Evolution takes place on an island in an alternate reality. It’s beautiful, but unsettling. Everyone speaks French but the landscape and coral reefs are definitely not France. Young boys are playful and content, but stay underwater too long. Their mothers are calm and attentive yet their gaze is coldly observational rather than loving. There are no men.
Nicolas (Max Brebant) becomes increasingly curious about the world around him and so the eeriness of this society begins to emerge. Hadzihalilovic and her cinematographer Manuel Dacosse show a sumptuous array of heightened, saturated realities, capturing the glorious colours of the bright sunshine and the magical worlds beneath the water.
Unnerving, stunningly beautiful and representing an original and debate-provoking conversation about gender and reproductive control, Hadzihalilovic’s Evolution is a gorgeous specimen of arthouse sci-fi.