On The Edge (2018) Trade Review

On The Edge (Étate Limite) (2018) dir. Nicolas Peduzzi

On The Edge is a gut punching, incredibly relevant film for our time. In this simple yet unforgiving documentary we follow the lives of French psychiatric support workers dealing with the chronic understaffing and underfunding of their hospital in a suburb of Paris. Director Nicolas Peduzzi (Ghost Song, Southern Belle) finds his protagonist in a young, inspiring psychiatric doctor, Jamal Abdel-Kader. The film rarely leaves inside the walls of the Beaujon public hospital, for the most part you are a fly on the wall in the chaotic and equally touching moments of reality for all those who enter. As the hospital continues to financially struggle and consequently taking an extreme toll on the hard-working staff, Dr Abdel-Kader questions who will care for the carers? 

There feels to be significant potential within On The Edge in its socio-political relevance as we see government cuts negatively affecting the medical care areas across the world leading to strikes as last resort. The simplicity of the film compliments the complex nature of its subject. With Peduzzi’s previous successes in his documentary filmmaking, i.e. Ghost Song (2021) being nominated at both Cannes and IndieLisboa festivals and his first feature even winning the Grand Prix prize at FIDMarseille, it comes to no surprise that On The Edge is drumming up festival buzz. The malleable nature and accessible tone of this film, along with its urgent message has enabled 2 nominations and 1 win from festivals such as Champs-Élysées and Copenhagen International Documentary Festival. The film debuted in theACID programme of Canne Film Festival this year, a selection of films promoted through hundreds of independent venues demonstrating a notable push in viewership for the documentary. Due to the universality of the subject matter and the contemplative questioning of human decency, the film would work perfectly on a large streaming service such as HBO in order to reach a far wider audience than maybe a theatrical release would. 

It could be argued that the pacing of the film leaves slightly more to be desired however we gain such insight into the innermost delicate workings of this hospital, that if some moments feels relatively slow it only merely contributes to the emotion filled ending that really hits home for the viewer, in the highs and lows they have to deal with every day. The lower camera quality and handheld camera work contributed to the personal feel of the film, you understand the relationship that had formed between crew and subject had been gained. As Dr Abdel-Kader talks us through his theories for helping these lost people reconnect back into society that has so thoroughly rejected them, we gain hope from knowing there are people like him. The balance of happiness and helplessness is carefully depicted in the excellent editing skills of Nicola Sburlati and artful placements of encapsulating stills breakup the high tension scenes. There is a lot of audience in the UK right now for a film like this that depicts these detestable situations with integrity and honesty.