Elephant Song is twisted enough to be worth it [Review]
Adapted from Nicolas Billon's 2004 play, Elephant Song is an intriguing suspense film that'll keep you on your toes.
"My job here is to be crazy," says Michael Aleen (Xavier Dolan), a young patient at a Canadian psychiatric hospital. He's being questioned by hospital director Dr Greene (Bruce Greenwood), who is looking for a doctor who went missing after seeing Michael the day before.
The film itself is almost like a play. All the tension lies in the dialogue between a few characters. Set in the office of the missing Dr Lawrence, it's a cat-and-mouse game as Greene tries in vain to not play by Michael's rules. It's impossible to tell when Michael is lying: he's unpredictable and bursting with energy, smart and cocky but impossible not to love.
Dolan nails his role, as does Catherine Keener as Nurse Peterson, a stiff figure who cares deeply for Michael.
Greene thinks he's conducting a simple investigation, but the stakes are much higher. "I didn't know what I was up against," Greene tells an investigator. You won't, either.