Review | Cannes 2021: The Year of the Everlasting Storm movie review – globe-trotting, pandemic-themed short film anthology by seven acclaimed directors
- Featuring seven stories from seven auteurs from around the world, the film chronicles the knock-on effect of the pandemic – some humorous, some deadly serious
- Award-winning directors Jafar Panahi, Anthony Chen, Malik Vitthal, Laura Poitras, Dominga Sotomayor, David Lowery and Apichatpong Weerasethakul contribute
3/5 stars
The Year of the Everlasting Storm is a movie about 2020. Presented as a Cannes Film Festival Special Screening, this globe-trotting two-hour anthology sees seven directors deliver very distinct takes on the ripple effect of the pandemic – some humorous, some deadly serious.
It starts with Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s Life, a mooch around his house, where the family pet Iguana Iggy slopes around and his mother turns up in full PPE, muttering “I’m old, any day can be my last.” They discuss how Covid-19 is worse in Europe, but fear seems to stalk them.
Singapore director Anthony Chen follows with The Break Away, starring Zhang Yu and Zhou Dongyu as a couple with a small child entombed in their flat in Tongzhou, China. “Stay strong Wuhan” reads a banner on a nearby building, but that doesn’t help the tensions inside. “Daddy, when can we go out again?” their little boy cries in a phrase that seems to sum up the perils of the last year.
Fatherhood is also at the heart of Little Measures, a California-set effort from Malik Vitthal that spins into animation.