Here we go, another installment of Mubi Monday is here! This week we have a French comedy that borders on the absurd. We’ll see just how absurd things get with…Keep an Eye Out (2018).
Title: Keep an Eye Out (Au poste!)
Director: Quentin Dupieux
Released: June 26, 2018 (France)
Available to stream on: Mubi (here’s a month on me), Kanopy, Tubi, and Freevee
Fugain (Grégoire Ludig) finds himself as the prime suspect of a murder. He is being interrogated by Commissaire Buron (Benoît Poelvoorde) who is determined to get to the bottom of this murder.
Starting at the beginning, Fugain claims that he found a man drenched in blood outside of his home. Rather than calling the authorities immediately, Fugain checks the body for any form of identification first. This admission catches Buron by surprise, further fueling his desire to keep questioning Fugain.
While Fugain seems okay with telling his version of events, he does become hungry. Buron denies him a break for food and steps outside to speak with his son, leaving Philippe (Monsieur Fraize) in charge of supervising Fugain. Philippe seems eager to strike up conversation with Fugain while Fugain tries to avoid staring at the Philippe’s missing eye.
For whatever reason, Philippe decides he wants to show off his badge to Fugain. In the act of trying to retrieve his badge, poor Philippe trips over an open file drawer. Unfortunately for Fugain, things only get worse from here. On his way down, Philippe impales his good eye on a square he had in his hand. Sounds bad, right? Well, it gets worse. Philippe dies, right there in the middle of the office.
Now Fugain, still the prime suspect in the murder he’s being questioned for, has another dead body on his hands and Buron is bound to come back at any moment. Quickly thinking on his feet, Fugain decides to shove Philippe’s body into a locker. Although, there is a giant blood stain on the carpet now. Fugain unsuccessfully attempts to scrub it out, beginning to panic he winds up just dragging boxes over the stain to cover it.
Buron walks back into the office and his line of questioning continues. However, little does he know, there are now two dead bodies he needs to get to the bottom of.
Will Fugain be able to clear his name and get out of there before Philippe’s body is discovered?
Well, for someone who is not familiar with the works of Quentin Dupieux, Keep an Eye Out (2018) was definitely an experience.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect. At first, I thought I was in for a police procedural, and technically that is still what I got, but getting there was quite the journey.
Poelvoorde and Ludig both give great performances and really make you invest in their characters, despite the bonkers script. While there is some humor sprinkled in throughout, I don’t know that I’d call this a comedy. In fact, I’m not sure what I’d call this.
It’s almost as if Quentin Dupieux just had a bunch of free-flowing thoughts and decided that by hook or by crook, they all would become this movie. Maybe that’s what Dupieux does. I’m not familiar with any of his other work. After this though, there is a morbid curiosity to seek out his other films.
If nothing else, you should give Keep an Eye Out (2018) at least one viewing for the pure absurdity of it.
Well, there you have it…whatever it was this week. But now it’s your turn. If you’ve seen Keep an Eye Out (2018), let me know what you thought of it in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!
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