Film Review: Final Cut

One of the greatest scourges of modern cinema is that of the remake. Lazy Hollywood producers notice the success of a film that is (usually) made in a language other than English and decide it’s a cheap shortcut to making a lot of money. Sadly, 95% of the time, the result is something fairly awful. One which ignores what made the original a success and Americanizes it out of existence. They aren’t the only country which does this though, as Final Cut attests.

A motley crew and cast have been assembled in an abandoned building to film a low-budget zombie film. The director (Romain Duris), used to making music or corporate videos for money, is far from committed to the idea of the project. Remaking a Japanese film without changing any of the elements; even keeping the same names. The actors are lifeless, and not in a good way, so he decides to unleash an ancient curse in order to inject some real horror into proceedings.

Final Cut faithfully recreates the original (One Cut of the Dead) with a soupçon of French self-deprecation thrown in for good measure. The result is very much lost in translation. Sure, it’s well done, but what’s the point? Michel Hazanavicius assembles an impressive cast, but attempts to transpose proceedings for a local audience generally fall flat. While Final Cut is an ode to filmmaking and a meta masterclass in production, there’s not much of a beating heart.

Final Cut is released on digital in the UK on 7 November.