EO (2023)

Jerzy Skolimowski’s latest unconventional film draws unavoidable comparisons to Robert Bresson’s Au Hasard Balthazar (1966), and Skolimowski makes no effort to dismiss these; indeed he claims openly that Eo is inspired by Bresson’s film, itself adapted from a passage in Dostoevsky’s The Idiot.

The titular character is a donkey that we follow over a period of time as he passes from owner to owner, some of who are affectionate to Eo and some who are brutally nasty. One scene in particular involving some hooligans is a particularly tricky watch, although Skolimowski is at pains to point out that the film was made out of love for animals and nature.

This statement is especially obvious in a jaw dropping sequence after Eo has escaped from his latest captivity, and wanders through a forest. The cinematography from Michał Dymek is stunning, throwing shades of red over the dark forest setting, which is full of dangers for Eo; all of this accompanied by a pulsating, brilliant score by Paweł Mykietyn that heightens the sense of foreboding. Eo is a triumph in depicting both human kindness and cruelty, adding a sense of other worldliness to proceedings, and is one of 2023’s best films so far. 8.2/10