Directors: Christopher Petit, Emma Matthews

Featuring: Louis Petit & voice of Jodhi May

This documentary meets cine-essay from British filmmaker Chris ‘Radio On’ Petit and his partner Emma Matthews is an attempt to convey the experiences of their son Louis who suffers from a debilitating epilepsy. Louis was twelve when he had his first fit which wiped out memories of his childhood.  The parents’ attempts to get treatment for their child were hindered by medical bureaucracy, as well as a general misunderstanding of the condition. Archive footage of Emma desperately trying to communicate with her son, is juxtaposed with film of the now 22-year-old Louis, a musician and artist as he takes a trip to Finland with father Petit, an enigmatic mainly silent presence, to scout out locations for a new picture. Some of Louis’ sketches, influenced by his condition, nicknamed Alice in Wonderland syndrome because of its distorting perceptions, are very impressive and evocative. The film is at its best when it is at its most abstract with the makers weaving a hypnotic collage of images culled from silent cinema, married to a finely eclectic soundtrack including Holger Czukay, The Everly Brothers, and Ennio Morricone, in order to recreate Louis’ headspace. Less interesting are sequences dealing with the new project Petit is working on about William Burroughs (who the behatted Petit resembles), and CIA chief James Angelton, who conducted questionable experiments with LSD. Their story is tangentially related to Louis condition but feels distracting and surplus to requirements here.

David Willoughby

Follow David on Bluesky @davidwilloughby.bsky.social