Friend of the Gutter Robert A. Mitchell’s coverage of Fantastic Fest 2026 continues with some thoughts on The Ones Who Grieve (France, 2026) and an interview with the film’s director Quarxx. “The violence that Jacob brings to the victims of the black veil, people advancing progress and his own family is visceral. As someone who written about cinema for over two decades and has seen all manners of the destruction of the body–the way Quarxx and his team treat the brutality of Jacob’s determination to rule the world as he sees fit is unnerving. I believe one of the highest compliments you can pay a filmmaker is to say that images they have crafted in their film has stayed with you. This is such the case with The Ones Who Grieve. 

Ultimately the film is about systems and the people who wield power within these structures and the people who are navigating these individuals and trying to persevere themselves from such wanton destruction. As Quarxx has said about his lead character, ‘Zélie is not a passive victim. She is a body and a mind in resistance, even when that resistance is silent, internal, almost invisible.'”

Read more and watch the interview at Soldier of Cinema.