A family mystery in Quebec is the focus for a 5-episode TV mini-series from Xavier Dolan, returning to directing after a few years’ hiatus. Available to stream in the UK on Studiocanal Presents.
UK audiences have been waiting for what seems like an age for Xavier Dolan to bring us something new. Yes, he has kept up his acting resumé, but since the difficult production of The Death & Life of John F. Donovan in 2018 and the lukewarm reception of Matthias & Maxime in 2019, Dolan as director has been notably absent.
So what a way to announce his directorial return to screens than with the 5-episode TV mini-series The Night Logan Woke Up, available in the UK from 1st November on the streaming service Studiocanal Presents.
Based on an original stage-play by Michel Marc Bouchard, The Night Logan Woke Up focuses on the troubled Larouche siblings, reunited after almost thirty years by the death of their mother. Julian (Patrick Hivon) is a recovering alcoholic, Denis (Éric Bruneau) is struggling following the breakup of his marriage, Eliot (Xavier Dolan) is on managed release from rehab and Mireille (Julie Le Breton), having cut all contact with the family for decades, is a renowned embalmer, who has returned to carry out her mother’s last wish – to be embalmed by her daughter. In true Dolan style, the family matriarch is played by long-time muse Anne Dorval.
The source of the sibling tension, and the reason for Mireille’s absence, is gradually revealed over the 5 episodes, with the scenes jumping between 1991 and 2019 as the past meets the present.
Each episode’s title mirrors the series name – along the lines of “The Night [Someone] [Did Something]” – and every instalment drip-feeds a hint or two as to what happened to the characters in their youth to bring about such an uncomfortable and antagonistic state of affairs.
Although The Night Logan Woke Up is originally a stage play, Dolan has form with successful adaptations (see Tom at the Farm and It’s Only the End of the World). Obviously there’s a lot of dialogue and several raised voices – but then one wouldn’t expect anything else coming to a Xavier Dolan work – but the flashback scenes, many of them set outside in the open air, remove any sense of staginess. And yet Dolan skilfully leaves in a couple of tableaux vivants, trapping the static characters together momentarily in stressful situations where, unlike in their past, they cannot flee the situation, either physically or using their substance of choice.
The Night Logan Woke Up has everything one would expect from Xavier Dolan: fractious relationships, unstable behaviour, the tense feeling of walking on eggshells. But this time there’s also a mystery which draws one in – at the end of every episode my guess is that viewers will have yet another wild yet plausible theory about what happened, until the final episode unwinds everything.
A word about the score – it’s being heavily promoted as having a score by Hans Zimmer and while this is indeed true, he’s working here with frequent collaborator David Fleming. Together they have produced a beautiful, atmospheric backdrop to proceedings, so no need for ear guards.
I can’t imagine any long-time Dolan fans will be disappointed with The Night Logan Woke Up, and it’s just so good to have him back 5 times in one go.
The Night Logan Woke Up makes its UK debut exclusively and only on the streaming service Studiocanal Presents on 1st November 2024.
A family mystery in Quebec is the focus for a 5-episode TV mini-series from Xavier Dolan, returning to directing after a few years’ hiatus. Available to stream in the UK on Studiocanal Presents.
UK audiences have been waiting for what seems like an age for Xavier Dolan to bring us something new. Yes, he has kept up his acting resumé, but since the difficult production of The Death & Life of John F. Donovan in 2018 and the lukewarm reception of Matthias & Maxime in 2019, Dolan as director has been notably absent.
So what a way to announce his directorial return to screens than with the 5-episode TV mini-series The Night Logan Woke Up, available in the UK from 1st November on the streaming service Studiocanal Presents.
Based on an original stage-play by Michel Marc Bouchard, The Night Logan Woke Up focuses on the troubled Larouche siblings, reunited after almost thirty years by the death of their mother. Julian (Patrick Hivon) is a recovering alcoholic, Denis (Éric Bruneau) is struggling following the breakup of his marriage, Eliot (Xavier Dolan) is on managed release from rehab and Mireille (Julie Le Breton), having cut all contact with the family for decades, is a renowned embalmer, who has returned to carry out her mother’s last wish – to be embalmed by her daughter. In true Dolan style, the family matriarch is played by long-time muse Anne Dorval.
The source of the sibling tension, and the reason for Mireille’s absence, is gradually revealed over the 5 episodes, with the scenes jumping between 1991 and 2019 as the past meets the present.
Each episode’s title mirrors the series name – along the lines of “The Night [Someone] [Did Something]” – and every instalment drip-feeds a hint or two as to what happened to the characters in their youth to bring about such an uncomfortable and antagonistic state of affairs.
Although The Night Logan Woke Up is originally a stage play, Dolan has form with successful adaptations (see Tom at the Farm and It’s Only the End of the World). Obviously there’s a lot of dialogue and several raised voices – but then one wouldn’t expect anything else coming to a Xavier Dolan work – but the flashback scenes, many of them set outside in the open air, remove any sense of staginess. And yet Dolan skilfully leaves in a couple of tableaux vivants, trapping the static characters together momentarily in stressful situations where, unlike in their past, they cannot flee the situation, either physically or using their substance of choice.
The Night Logan Woke Up has everything one would expect from Xavier Dolan: fractious relationships, unstable behaviour, the tense feeling of walking on eggshells. But this time there’s also a mystery which draws one in – at the end of every episode my guess is that viewers will have yet another wild yet plausible theory about what happened, until the final episode unwinds everything.
A word about the score – it’s being heavily promoted as having a score by Hans Zimmer and while this is indeed true, he’s working here with frequent collaborator David Fleming. Together they have produced a beautiful, atmospheric backdrop to proceedings, so no need for ear guards.
I can’t imagine any long-time Dolan fans will be disappointed with The Night Logan Woke Up, and it’s just so good to have him back 5 times in one go.
The Night Logan Woke Up makes its UK debut exclusively and only on the streaming service Studiocanal Presents on 1st November 2024.
Share this:
Like this:
Discover more from The Movie Isle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.