Creature

Based on the English National Ballet production of the same name, Creature tells the story of the titular Creature (Jeffrey Cirio), a man who is enlisted into an experimental programme in a dilapidated former Arctic research station. Tested on by Doctor (Stina Quagebeur) for his mental and physical resilience under the orders of the tyrannical Major (Fabian Reimar), the protagonist struggles to make sense of this strange world but finds love and companionship through the cleaner Marie (Erina Takahashi). Creature and Marie dream of escaping the doomed Earth, but the Major’s desire for Marie threatens this dream – and their lives.

Creature marries the visual languages of theatre with those of film, with Asif Kapadia’s directing reinterpreting and reshaping Akram Khan’s choreography in some fascinating ways. Watching this film feels like watching a conversation between these two directors and their respective genres, with an entirely new experience created from the synthesis of cinema and ballet. The camera often gets up close and personal with the dancers, bringing out fresh elements of their performances and immersing the audience in Creature’s dark and visceral world in entirely different ways from a standard theatrical performance.

This story is powerful, exploring ideas of authoritarianism, othering, climate catastrophe, love and loss without its actors saying a single word. The film doesn’t give much in the way of context, with even the names of its characters only being revealed in the credits, but it’s a testament to the strength of Khan’s choreography and Kapadia’s directing that the narrative works effectively without any information beyond what the ballet conveys.

The strength of the piece’s storytelling is of course bolstered significantly by the talented dancers, who communicate a rollercoaster of emotions and atmospheres without missing a beat. Cirio steals the show, playing the Frankenstein-esque role of the titular protagonist in a way that brings out the complexity of the character and perfectly serves the multi-faceted themes and ideas that Creature represents.

Overall, Creature is a fascinating cinematic experience, bringing together two different creative disciplines and making something at once familiar and brand new. It’s raw, intense and experimental, with breathtaking dance explored and enhanced by a keen directorial eye, telling a story that manages to juggle a lot of narrative balls while keeping things coherent and maintaining a focus on universal parts of the human experience.

Umar Ali

Creature is released in select cinemas on 24^th February 2023.

Watch the trailer for Creature here: