A neurosurgeon whose life is falling apart finds himself forced to return home to confront the past in L’Inhumain. Mathieu Cote (Samian) is a gifted neurosurgeon whose life begins to fall apart when he is put on leave for a substance abuse issue, followed by his wife Julie (Véronique Beaudet) leaving him after discovering an affair between Mathieu and his co-worker Maude (Jeanne Roux-Cote). Soon afterwards, Mathieu is told that his Anishinaabe father has died. Mathieu is forced to return home and confront his indigenous roots and an inhuman creature he encountered as a child.
L’Inhumain (The Inhuman) is a horror-infused drama from writer/director Jason Brennan, inspired by the Indigenous legend of the Wendigo. The film stars Abitibiwinni/Quebecois hip hop artist turned actor Samuel “Samian” Tremblay as Mathieu Cote, a neurosurgeon who has all but disavowed his indigenous heritage. However, the last comes back to haunt Mathieu as he returns home to scatter his father’s ashes and encounters the Wendigo he encountered as a child, which intends to harm Mathieu for his sins of substance abuse and infidelity.
There are aspects of L’Inhumain that work well, such as the very striking creature design for the Wendigo and a third-act twist that doesn’t make a lot of sense but does end up making the climax of the film a lot more fun that also recontextualizes encounters with an otherwise throwaway supporting character. However, L’Inhumain does suffer from its slow pace and heavy reliance on flashbacks to Mathieu’s childhood memories of his father. However, it’s still a film worth checking out.
Trailer for L’Inhumain – Blood in the Snow 2022
