We continue our overview of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival with Tyrel, presented in competition among American feature films. This eponymous film tells us about the peregrinations of Tyrel, a young black man invited for an evening in the mountains by his friend. When he arrives there, he finds that everyone is white and quickly feels uncomfortable among them. Focus.
A film without stakes:
Rather promising, the pitch of the film let us presage a plot à la Get Out, where blacks continue to be persecuted in a more or less insidious way. Unfortunately, the film does not keep this promise and this is the first problem: there is no real tension, no real social issues. Certainly some religious subtexts are distilled in the work and several ideas are interesting, but nothing is exploited to its fair extent. In the end, we end up with a film without much at stake. We only follow Tyrel's discomfort within this evening in which he does not recognize himself. But we quickly start thinking that if he does not recognize himself in this evening, it is not a question of skin color, but simply of character. Because some dubious jokes may be insinuated, the fact is that the guests have a rather benevolent behavior towards Tyrel throughout the film.
No common thread holds the entire scenario, which reinforces the feeling of lack of stakes. We do not feel that this evening offers the young man an initiatory journey, which leaves us hungry when the credits arrive. In the end, Tyrel presents us with a very ordinary evening, in which the traditional moments of fun and those more tense (see violent) rub shoulders. Bringing a little more body to this story as well as stakes for the character would surely have made it possible to involve the audience more sincerely, while offering them real social commentary.
A realistic evening:
If there is one point that cannot be faulted with the film, it is its realism. This applies both to the course of the evening and to the way Sebastián Silva films it. Indeed, we have the right to a very moving camera and very close to the characters. It wanders from one person to another, reinforcing the feeling of closeness with the characters. In addition, the camera moves more or less smoothly depending on the state of intoxication of the protagonists, which allows us to experience sensations similar to those of our heroes. The moments of laughter are also realistic and will remind many of us of the similar delusions we may have experienced in the evenings. We will think in particular of stupid but funny jokes (and more or less dubious), as well as stupid and hilarious games (the "whisky baffe", it's still funny to see).
If Tyrel is not a failed film, it is a work with underused issues and themes. However, it remains enjoyable to discover and should make you spend a pleasant time in the rooms. To discover at the Champs-Elysées film festival this Tuesday, June 19 (last day of broadcast).
