Next up in our FrightFest coverage is Aurélia Mengin’s, Scarlet Blue
UNLOCK YOUR INNER NEON DEMONS
Aurélia Mengin’s Scarlet Blue is about to take you on a beautiful psychedelic dream-like trip on grief, unresolved trauma and mental illness.
Scarlet Blue follows Alter, a troubled 40-year-old woman suffering from severe mental health issues. After a failed suicide attempt, she decides to undergo some controversial treatment; she meets with a mysterious healer called Léandro Lecreulx, a loner who resides in a cave. This treatment involves her getting chained to a table and being put under hypnosis.
This treatment brings out, and more importantly, introduces us to what is going on; Alter suffers from schizophrenia andwe are about to meet (it’s in the name) her Alter-ego. As the treatment continues, Léandro starts to unlock the trauma in her mind and it is during these sessions she tells Léandro Lecreulx that she has recently been dreaming about a blue fish, a Scarlet Blue fish.
The next step in her treatment is to document everything by taking pictures with a Polaroid camera. With each picture captured Alter’s world breaks open, flooding her broken mind with buried memories all scratching to get at the surface.
There’s a lot going on in Scarlet Blue and that’s a wonderful achievement for a production featuring only a handful of cast members. The direction and camera angles are truly unique, which throws the viewer into this colourful yet extremely dark world of unresolved trauma Mengin has created.
The contrast of colours and the powerful performances dealing with mental health issues and trauma is frightening. The subject matter is dark but told in a Lynchian and Refn style that intentionally makes it harder for the viewer to decipher and piece together. Drenched in beautiful, radiant neon colours, It’s almost like we’re also in Alter’s mind unlocking the trauma with her.
Scarlet Blue is for fans of visual arthouse cinema. Sometimes, the human mind can be way more terrifying than any monster or ghost put on screen.
I’ll be eagerly awaiting Aurélia’s next film. A fabulous filmmaking talent who’s making cinematic waves from Réunion Island, a very small French island near Madagascar! Her voice is getting heard and when you hear it, it’ll be impossible to let go.
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