The 9th Life of Louis Drax

Based on the titular 2004 novel by Liz Jensen, Alexandre Aja's The 9th Life of Louis Drax serves up the odd tale of a boy (Aiden Longworth) who tells the story of his brief life, Sunset Boulevard-style, while lying in a coma—the result of a fall off a cliff while he and his estranged parents (Sarah Gadon and Aaron Paul) were celebrating his ninth birthday with a picnic. Louis says (confirmed by flashbacks) that he has always been accident-prone, almost dying on many occasions from food poisoning, falling chandeliers, and electrocution. Meanwhile, a hard-nosed police inspector searches for Louis's father, who vanished—stoking suspicion that he might have tried to kill his son. And Louis's mother hovers about the hospital, while the boy's doctor (Jamie Dornan) becomes infatuated with her. The doctor also begins dreaming about a Swamp Thing-type creature that is haunting comatose Louis's consciousness as well. Louis's therapist (Oliver Platt) enters the scene to offer background about his patient's fragile mental state, and Louis's grandmother (Barbara Hershey) turns up to blame her daughter-in-law for all the family's problems. Eventually the truth about what happened to Louis on that fateful day will be revealed in this curious mixture of film noir and fantasy that proves to be too peculiar by half, but remains interesting. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “making-of” featurette (3 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for an uneven but often intriguing film.] (F. Swietek)