Cinequest 2023 Review: 11.11.18 Slogs Through War

In this intriguing, yet somewhat nauseating film, a German soldier accidentally lands in enemy territory, where he is surrounded by French soldiers. Unbeknownst to the French, though, he is a German working for his enemy.

Throughout the story, we see this German soldier attempt to blend in with his enemies by not uttering a word and instead, thinking to himself, so that he will not be able to blow his cover and get himself killed. However, when the soldiers are about to attack their enemy lines, they find out that there has been a ceasefire or armistice across the battlefield.

The soldiers are overjoyed, at first, but realize that it was a false narrative and their bunkers were gassed and bombed anyway. The rest of the film looks like something from an ethereal and vivid dream that seems to blur the lines between fiction and reality. It seems like a bleak metaphor for both life and death but the message seems to have gotten lost in translation.

The film tries hard but ultimately, it plays more like a bunch of cutscenes from video games stitched together that form an incohesive thread that doesn't seem as compelling as it could have been. I could be wrong but I think I played Call of Duty with my cousin in this exact mode and then I woke up the next day with sore thumbs.

It seems that the creators behind the film ran out of a budget for multiple cameras and instead, just came out with this dusty point of view that seems unorthodox and uninventive at the same time. The film doesn't really get much mileage out of its characters either and decides to leave them stranded out in the bunker along with its narrative.

All in all, this film is not a very grand adaptation of the armistice of WWI and seems to be more foggy and confusing for viewers than enlightening.

The film enjoys its world premiere at Cinequest. It screens again on Monday, August 28. Visit the official festival site for more information.