Bloody Oranges (2021) Poster

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7/10
6.7/10. Recommended
athanasiosze27 October 2022
This is a dark comedy. When it is comedy, it's funny, even hilarious in some moments. When it's "dark", it's really dark, it doesn't hold back. Second half is unexpectedly dark but if you pay attention, you realise that there is a smooth transition, i mean, the director here knows exactly what he is doing.

There are some messages here and i fully agree with their sociopolitical content. Furthermore, it's an interesting movie, no boring moments.

However, i can't rate it higher because i didn't enjoy very much the movie in the second half. It was too weird/bizarre, i can't explain it well but i believe that it should have been even darker or maybe funnier and less dark. I can't tell which direction. There is some catharsis here but i didn't enjoy it as much as i would like to. A seemingly satisfying ending which leaves you surprisingly with a -somewhat- bad taste in your mouth. I love weird movies but something felt off. It was simultaneously too realistic and not realistic at all. Maybe this is what the director wanted: A confusing experience for the viewer. If so, i respect such daring choices. Still, i enjoyed this movie less than i wanted.

In conclusion, i applaud such weird and provocative movies. Some times, it works really well ( "Relatos salvajes", 2014, that's a movie that came into my mind as i was watching this).

And some other times, it works just good.
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9/10
Very Twisted... Very entertaining
weetuscren1 August 2021
I saw this at the midnight premier in Cannes. I can't imagine why people dislike it unless they're either puritanical or hate reading subtitles.

I will refrain from spoilers.... but it's the definition of dark comedy. It might make Quentin Tarantino blush.

I would rate it 10 to off-set the terrible ratings, but it's not my job to be the rating equalizer.
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3/10
Sound and fury
BandSAboutMovies29 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Director Jean-Christophe Meurisse has created a film that really has no limit of how low it will go. It has four stories that all take their own paths.

An elderly couple has gone so far into debt that their home will soon be repossessed, so they enter a dance contest in the hopes of winning an SUV and selling it to repay as much of their debt as possible.

Their son is a lawyer trying to climb the corporate ladder as he works for the financial secretary of France who is trying to change his image.

There's also a young girl who is kidnapped and assaulted by an old man with a grudge against the government not long after her doctor explains to her that she's entering womanhood and she plans to sleep with her boyfriend.

And the aforementioned lawyer attempts to get past a scandal by committing even greater crimes.

The film moves from rough dialogue to even rougher action; this movie is beyond cynical and dark until it starts to pile shock beyond shock in an attempt at either upsetting or numbing the viewer, depending on who they are.

That said, this movie feels very vibrant in the way that it's shot, nearly like improvised chaos that all comes together well. This definitely is the kind of movie that people are either going to be major fans or major enemies of.
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8/10
An experience
Doctor_Enigmatic24 August 2022
This is the type of movie that I call an experience. You go in, preferably no idea what to expect, and let the artists world wash over you like a wave. It is a rollar coaster, complete with the best part where your stomach feels like it's gonna fall out.

How does one write the blurb to give an idea about this movie without giving away much? It is like having a window into three people's lives. That can really be said about all movies and shows. I just mean that it is the course of a few days for a couple people. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then the extra ordinary happens.

There were laughs. Reminds me of Van Wilder, can't take life so seriously, you'll never get out alive. Dark humor comes from tragedy, or just living in this world. This movie really makes that mentality hit hard.

It was all fun and games, until the molester clown came out the closet and sent the movie on its side. That box art tho. Wow.

It is an experience I wish more people would have. You come out the other side a servivor and a little more taint on the ol soul.
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8/10
Nice comedy with a dark twist.
joaquinerana17 August 2022
I've seen this movie in the Cinematheque of Uruguay and it was hilarious. The first part of this film was really funny, with ironic jokes and dark humor. But, the second part gets more dramatic and dark. Also, the movie is a good critic of the society of the XXI century, which is chaotic and complicated. A world in which people can't be happy with themselves and with others.

It is a good film; funny and sad.
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8/10
Don't look at the trailer first.
scootmandu-662-3056006 September 2022
I came into this movie knowing very little, outside of the fact that it was streaming on Shudder. So I got that there was a horror element. Still, I had no idea what to expect, but was mesmerized by the way that what passes for ordinary discussion and debate, was portrayed. It wasn't just the competing cacophony of voices in a judge's debate on a dance contest, or the hypnotic camerawork and metronome infusion into an otherwise standard conversation between a debtor and a bank.

What I found jaw-dropping was the sudden right turns this movie makes, starting fairly subtly with a way too frank discussion between a gynecologist and her young patient. That was the relatively tame part. And then circumstances beyond our control step in, and worlds are altered.

This is not your parent's slice of life movie.

I watched the trailer afterwards and it gives way too much away. It is much better to be seduced by the knowingly ironic and cynical dialogue that many of the characters pepper each other with. And then watch as quirks of fate that suddenly can intrude on life, cause the bottom to drop out.

Personally, I thought the acting, writing and direction was crisp and thrilling. There was not a single moment of boredom in this one. But it is certainly not for everyone. If you are easily offended, steer clear. Otherwise, fasten your seatbelt. You are in for a treat.
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8/10
Not Horror at All, Very Typical French Cinema
thalassafischer26 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I used to watch a lot of French films in my 20s and Oranges sanguines is nothing unusual for their cinematic culture, though it is particularly well-made. I have no idea why this movie is on Shudder. I would have watched it much sooner had I known it's more of a black comedy and political drama; I was apprehensive that it would seem tame but quickly become exceedingly violent or wildly disturbing. That's not really the case here - the first half of the film is building the story and the characters with a lot of sly, dark humor and even when the film starts to get twisted it's not really "scary." The first act of violence is in truth a comical symbol of political retribution to a very deserving and corrupt political figure. It does get darker from that point forward, yet has something of a bittersweet and life-affirming though not "happy" ending.

It's very French. Nothing here will shock someone who has read Sartre's No Exit or Camus' The Stranger earlier in life, especially if they're going into Oranges sanguines as a horror fan.
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