THE OTHER LAURENS (Belgium/France 2023) ***
Directed by Carl Schmitz

THE OTHER LAURENS implies that there are two of them.  In fact, there are and they are twins.  When one apparently is done away with, the other investigates the brother’s death with skeletons coming unhidden from the closet.  The film plays like a neo-detective misery and it feels like the Raymond Chandler films.  The only difference is that this film is from Belgium, with locations in the United States (the Grand Canyon) and that there is more family relationship drama in this neo-black thriller.

Gabriel Laurens (Olivier Rabourdin) is a shaggy dog private investigator seeking out an existence one seedy adultery case at a time.  When his niece, Jade (Louise Leroy), shows up at his doorstep to notify him of his estranged twin brother François’ recent death, he decides to take a hiatus and drive her back to her father’s massive estate on the Franco-Spanish border.

The family drama slowly overrides the detective mystery, in both a good and bad way.  One is that the mystery and action become secondary and secondly, director Schmitz eventually bungles with both, the result being a really slow and plodding second half stretching the film too long.  The film does not know when it should end.

Upon their arrival, they’re met with a cold reception from Jade’s calculating stepmother, Shelby (Kate Moran), and her gang of crusty back-country bikers intent on tracking the young girl’s every move. Short on cash, Gabriel vows to stick around just long enough to get things smoothed over with his bank. The more he sees, however, the more he realizes things aren’t as cut and dry as they seem.

To unearth the true cause of his brother’s death, Gabriel dons the identity of "the other Laurens" and is slowly drawn into François’ shady underworld. Along the way, he’ll cross paths with a bizarro cast of characters, including a pair of bumbling cops, an American mercenary, and a ruthless family of drug traffickers.

At this point, director Schmitz slips into a bit of comedy especially when the American mercenary shows up.  The film gets a bit weirder as the plot thickens a bit too much.  The humour might be too droll for one’s liking.

THE OTHER LAURENS attempts, to director Schmitz’s credit to be a modern homage to the sun-drenched California noirs of the 1970s, injecting their laid-back, cynical vibe with a healthy dose of stylish European minimalism.  This tactic works lifting the film out of the doldrums.

Among the awards, Awards:  The film won the Grand Prix at the   Brussels International Film Festival 2023 and the Best Actor Prize for Olivier Rabourdin) in the main role (yes, he is the best thing in the film) at the  Brussels International Film Festival 2023.

THE OTHER LAR+UENS is filmed in French and some English with a little Italian and Spanish spoken for good measure.

The film had its premiere at the Directors Fortnight Section In Cannes last year and opens this week in theatres this week and on VOD on August 27th.

Trailer: