SHE IS CONANN

I am on the verge of becoming OBSESSED with French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico. 

SHE IS CONANN is a fantastical re-imagining of Conan the Barbarian, time-jumping through the life of Conann, an elder who has lost all memory of who she was. Her longtime tormentor and frenemy, a dog-person named Rainer, takes her on a journey through her past in order for Conann to rediscover who she was, and is, and … was/is. 

Young Conann is kidnapped by a gang of female warriors – who wear armor with spikes jutting out of their breastplates – led by the fierce Sanja. After Sanja murders her mother by literally splitting her in HALF with a sword, Conann is kept in a cage and treated as a lowly servant … until one day she finds the courage to murder them all and escape. 

As she ages, Conann encounters versions of her more mature self; each older Conann murdering the younger one so she can grow. To show that evolution, the title character is played by many different actresses from age 15-55 – and, finally, “dead.” (There’s also a fair amount of self making out with self…but honestly, what hot warrior queen wouldn’t want to die in the arms of her future self after a spicy makeout sesh)? I so appreciate this take on LITERALLY KILLING YOUR YOUTH. 

Rainer and the older, fiercer Conamn then embark on an odyssey together across a world filled with a hooded cult who “need flesh to feed their machines,” which results in another growth transition. Afterwards, Rainer sends Sanja and the new Conann, now lovers (and also dead) back (?!?!) to The Bronx in 1998 – with a flash of her magic camera, where they play ship’s mast on a metal car with a flaming sword as drunk onlookers cheer, and then have phone sex while talking about car parts after one of them dies in a crash. 

Listen, I know how this sounds and Mandico’s movies definitely don’t make any sense! There is no explanation for anything that happens on screen – and that’s truly part of what makes them so wonderful. They’re utterly different from anything else I’ve seen on screen; clever, sexy, weird, ridiculous, dreamlike, and absolutely fascinating. You don’t need a coherent linear storyline; you’re glued to the screen through the very last frame, and you’ll be thinking about it forever afterwards.  

Like Mandico’s previous film, AFTER BLUE, CONANN is filled with erotic imagery and is drenched in glitter that covers its stunningly original sets. But instead of BLUE’s colorful, neon 80’s palette – CONANN shows us stark black and white flashbacks and gold, black and brown present day sequences with a liberal amount of slaughter sprinkled in. There are some really great, over-the-top practical F/X, and a decent amount of spatter and blood spray. 

And I’m not gonna give anything away, but there’s a VERY uncomfortable sequence near the end where the foley alone gave me a strong, visceral “NOPE” reaction. 

SHE IS CONANN is playing in theaters now! Check the Altered Innocence website here for more info.