Club Zero

A teacher giving _conscious eating_ classes. Without much surprise, like all alternative ways of eating/living available these days it is very easy to fall into sect like behaviour.

This is a course in indoctrination. How to slowly change the children ways of thinking, targeting the psychologically weak (most of them already have eating disorders or family trouble), group emulation, emotional manipulation, antagonizing the _outsiders_ (mainly the parents), making them think they're part of an elite, casting doubt on science and common sense, etc. All the classic tools.

In this way, everything is expected. There's no surprise or twist or much originality. Once you know the subject, you know how it will go and how it will end. But it's well done and you get carried by the story.

It was presented as dealing with various subjects like eating disorders and teenagers/parents relationship, but it's not. Yes there are some communication issues beforehand, and some children have disorders before. But how could parents handle and/or counter brainwashing ?

Also, despite having 7 or 8 children in the class, the story only focuses on [spoiler]the final four[/spoiler], sice the beginning. Even the one who is a real believer but [spoiler]is absent at the end because of holidays[/spoiler] is never shown at home, let alone the ones who drop before it gets too crazy that barely have 4 sentences in the movie. Not only would it have made the end result less obvious, at least less immediately, but it would have been interesting to have a view on those on which the brainwashing didn't work, how and why.

The ending is (a bit) open. Did she [spoiler]bring them into a sect somewhere, or do they kill themselves (to live forever) ? Since it's clear that they won't survive too long anyway.[/spoiler]

There's a bit of humour, mostly due to the fact that (apart from Ben), all the families are super wealthy assholes. [spoiler]"It seems unfair that just because we went to ski in Switzerland our daughter was saved[/spoiler], well no shit.

It could have been interesting to see a bit more into the teacher. She's clearly a believer, but she seems healthy enough for someone who's not eating. Though it does not seem like she would cheat. She also feels on a mission, but is she by herself, or is there an organization she's a victim of behind her ? Those are not addressed.

It seems "everybody" hates this movie for different reasons. The mainstream audience because it is slow and arty and pretentious, the cineasts and Cannes audience seem hung up on some puking and perceive that it is an attack on the wealthy, hip movie enthusiasts because it is not Wes Anderson...

I quite liked it.

It *is* slow and arty and pretentious and has some disturbing moments in a timeless nearly stage set clean environment and (much to its credit) it is nothing like Wes Anderson.

I managed to get through 50 minutes of this and am wondering where I send to for a medal.