Dante 01

2008 Director Marc Caro

Co-director of Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children, this is Caro's solo directorial debut. It is a nightmarish tale of a deep space prison and the newly arrived inmate suffering from a mysterious alien infection.

Dante 01 is a maximum-security prison located out of harm's way at the edge of the galaxy. Upon arrival for psychiatric evaluation, the sole survivor of a horrifying alien encounter finds himself in the middle of a battle to harness his strange new powers. But the volatile force that now dwells within him is greater than anyone realizes.

This is not a remake or variation of Alien but a vision of universal hope versus human cynicism. The dark style that is Caro's trademark pervades this film and makes the outcome even more surprising. This film is a brave allegory about our nature, our beginnings and our destiny. The cast include a few familiar faces from both his previous films with Jean-Pierre Jeunet and there is enough originality here to give pause for thought.