Roma Elastica
Rating: 2.5/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
SCREENED AT FANTASTIC FEST 2026
Bertrand Mandico's latest film, Roma Elastica, unfortunately suffers the same fate as other surrealist films who are trying to show they have something to prove - the idea of style over substance unfortunately hinders the story as a whole. I think there is a lot to appreciate about this film, and it is definitely easy to fall for this darkly idealized world that Mandico has created. But, when you start to break down this movie and really think about what it had to say, it begs the question of if the film had to go through all of that to just beat the message over the viewer's head? I think if Mandico was able to just add a little more story and keep the story ambiguous for the audience, it may have worked a little better than the final product here.
The film follows Marion Cotillard's Eddie, who is a world-renowned actress that just found out she has a terminal illness that is going to take her out sooner or later. Wrestling with this new information about herself and knowing she doesn't have much longer on this Earth, she decides to take on a new film, a science-fiction project that may very well be her last movie before her untimely demise. Just from the premise of this film, I knew this could quite possibly be something I was going to enjoy. I simply adore films that showcase these movie stars going through something traumatic in their lives, and I was excited to see this fresh take on a story we have seen before.
Unfortunately, however, I don't think this movie works in the exact way Mandico wants it to. He utilizes this surreal and fantastical style of filmmaking to showcase this world and how everything we see may not be real, but it doesn't really lead anywhere. We see all of these ideas and what-ifs come into play, but I don't understand how he attempted to tie them all together and make them work cohesively. We are witnessing this downfall of a person as they feel forced to do one last project before their death, but it seems like Mandico really desperately wants to comment on the various aspects around her that truly doesn't fit into this story.
Sure, Eddie is on this self-destructive path, but there are various factors in this world that could make sense in a more short-film fashion rather than a feature length picture. There is so much going on that when put together, going through this film starts to feel more like a chore than this path our character is going on. They all don't really fit and run smoothly, and if you are like me, you find yourself wondering how much longer this film has and why are we going through all of these various side plots that don't fully contribute to the main character's story. We already knew how this movie was going to end going into it, but the journey we take doesn't justify the outcome in the final scenes of this film.
With all of that being said however, I do think Cotillard does give a great performance as the main character here. She truly gives it her all and you can see a glimpse into what this movie could be if it was more focused, and it's definitely a shame we're not getting a better, more balanced movie for this performance she is giving. I also want to comment on Noémie Merlant's performance here as I think she gives this wonderfully weird and out-there performance, incredibly different from past roles she has done.
It's unfortunate that this movie simply didn't work for me. I think there are aspects a lot of audiences will appreciate and maybe someone else out there will understand and appreciate what Mandico was going for her, but as for me, I truly couldn't get on this wild ride he was throwing the audiences on. I do think Mandico is a great filmmaker and can conjure up some pretty interesting ideas, but it feels like he might have gotten in his head too much with this one and overthought many of the aspects of this story.
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