NYFF62: ‘Who By Fire’ Explores Toxic Masculinity In Nail-Biting Thriller

Canadian helmer Philippe Lesange’s disturbing yet transfixing new work Who by Fire (Comme le feu) explores toxic masculinity and the consequences of petty percolating jealousies by isolating two former film collaborators together in a cabin literally nestled in the woods along with a trio of teens and a handful of friends.

Set in a remote area of Quebec, Who opens with a rather long sequence where the camera follows a car along a mountainous road. Inside the car are once-celebrated screenwriter Albert (Paul Ahmrani) along with his daughter, Aliocha (Aurelia Arandi-Longpré), hi son, Max (Antoine Marchand-Gagnon), and Max’s best friend, filmmaker-wannabe, Jeff (Noah Parker), who crushes hard on Aliocha. They arrive, two-hours late, along a lake where Albert’s old friend and Oscar-winning director, Blake (Arieh Worthalter) is waiting with his plane to pilot them to the cottage. Blake now claims the plane is out of gas because he used it to search for them. He’s kidding, but it’s first sign of deep-seated tension between the men as well as the way they now treat one another. Cue long aerial shots as they journey to their destination.

Background: Albert and Blake worked successfully together for twenty years until they parted ways (not so amicably). Blake now makes doc films and Albert is working on an animated TV show despite his disgust for the medium. The two are reuniting after a three-year estrangement.

There are a handful of other characters at the cabin, most notably an iconic French actress (played by the legendary Irene Jacob) but the main focus, when it’s not on the rivaled filmmakers is on wildcard Jeff and how he his feelings for Aliocha are not shared, which has destructive results and cause mayhem among the guests.

Albert’s drunken rants, which appear to have some validity, and Blake’s arrogance in his refusal to see things any other way than his own, are at the center of Lesange’s keen observations about just how damaging and dangerous, as well as fragile, the male ego can be.

The filmmaker creates a taut, sinister and claustrophobic atmosphere, not just in the cabin where most of the narrative takes place, but even when characters are on a mountain top or going down the rapids in canoes (an amazing sequence). There’s a constant sense that the characters are trapped, helplessly unable to control or navigate their own destinies.

Who by Fire is a promising work by a gifted filmmaker that vacillates between moody meditation and nail-biting thriller.