‘Hell is other people.’ This famous quote from the play No Exit hangs like a storm cloud above Tonight and the People. Like this one-act play by Sartre, the film is set in a single location – a television studio, where some cowboys, activists, hippies, gangsters and teenagers are waiting for something big to happen: the Apocalypse.
To kill time, they talk about their ideals and dreams, how they imagine perfect love and the influence politics has on their lives. Gradually, they realise that the world has already ended and that they have been in hell for quite some time.
Everything about the film is artificial: the dialogue, the claustrophobic setting, the stylistic nods to sitcoms and westerns, the world-weary approach to big themes. This represents an elaboration by director Neil Beloufa on his previous (multiple award-winning) short video films. Beloufa’s feature debut has more than a little in common with the visual arts, which at times has a disorienting effect.
Film details
- Countries of production
- France, USA
- Year
- 2013
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2014
- Length
- 81'
- Medium/Format
- DCP
