Céline Roustan

Buckle up and prepare for a wild ride! Writer/director Alexandre Dostie (Mutants) returns to S/W with his latest short Je finirai en prison (I’ll End Up in Jail) – an exhilarating 23-min short that paints a touching portrait of a woman at a turning moment in her life.

Trapped in an existence where taking care of her son and her husband has put her own aspirations on the backburner, Maureen has simply had enough and is ready for a change. The road to her emancipation will be more hazardous than expected though, making her journey to freedom so satisfyingly hard-earned.

“Maureen’s character was inspired by my own mother”

It is no secret that Alexandre Dostie is a talented filmmaker, yet I was struck by how well he (a man) wrote such a complex, layered, sensitive, endearing and compelling female character. “Maureen’s character was inspired by my own mother and writing the film I wondered how I could bring her to visit her own shadow”, he tells us while discussing how his main character came to be.

As Maureen begins to understand that she’s not needed anymore, she starts to question her identity.

Introduces us to his lead character through a very successful exposition, Dostie uses humour and thrills to subtly provide all the backstory we need to be on team Maureen for the rest of the film. After years of complete devotion to her role of wife and mother, she’s rapidly becoming aware she isn’t needed anymore and begins to question her own identity (or lack of it). As she seeks an escape, it’s at this point Dostie confronts his lead with a hard and complicated realization, prompting the beginning of a wilder, bloodier adventure than she ever could have expected. 

Knowing Dostie, it comes as no surprise when he says he was “hoping to create a kickass short film”, I’ll End Up in Jail is as entertaining as it is engaging. While he doesn’t make it easy on his character to get her freedom, the twists never feel gratuitous – like a cheap way to retain the audience’s attention – and are instead an essential part of Maureen’s journey. Every single one creating an escalating tension, while also working to deepen the narrative emotionally.

Martine Francke takes us on a wild ride as Maureen, the lead character in I’ll End Up in Jail

Maureen being the backbone of the film, I’ll End Up in Jail’s success relies heavily on Martine Francke’s performance and from the opening shot, she is simply perfect. Convincingly navigating the disappointments of her life and the lack of respect she faces every day, while resolutely presenting a facade that everything is fine, her “Va chier! (Go fuck yourself!)” moment is a truly liberating experience to share in (even if her jubilation doesn’t last long!). That downtrodden character she presents at the film’s start isn’t the most impressive part of her performance though, as her life unravels and the short enters darker territories she also captures the morally complex grey area she finds herself in after with striking authenticity.

Set in La Beauce, in rural Quebec (also the canvas for his previous short Mutants), where Dostie grew up, the remoteness of the location definitely serves the narrative with its emptiness. The film was shot in November and was supposed to have a Fall visual aesthetic, but unusually cold weather (I can only let you imagine what that is like in Quebec) changed Dostie and DP Vincent Biron’s plans. The prevalence of the white, brought on by the unexpected temperatures, actually works to create a more efficient contrast with the colors of the characters and what’s happening and ultimately increases audience engagement, on a visual appreciation level as well.

After having collected laurels from some of the most sought after festivals, including TIFF, Sundance, Clermont-Ferrand, Regard and Palm Springs, I’ll End Up in Jail had its online debut earlier this week as a Vimeo Staff Pick Premiere. Dostie recently left his position at Travelling Distribution to focus on his new projects, including a new poetry collection, writing a novel and his debut feature Shape. His contribution to the world of the short film is not over though as he will be attending a writing residency organized by the Clermont-Ferrand film festival in the spring, with a new short titled Boa.