Style over substance is the overriding problem with “Pate,” described by its director as a “modern Grimm’s fairy tale”. Two young children dressed in makeshift astronaut suits that look like leftovers from a Tusken Raider outfit from “Star Wars” do their best to collect roaches in a radioactive-filled, post-apocalyptic future. The two kids, a cute little blonde girl and a spunky little boy, come home to mother, who looks like she didn’t quite finish getting ready for the fetish ball. Their maid prepares a feast of the plump insects when Mr. Griswald arrives complete with facial tumors. With the roaches consumed, Mother chooses to cook her own little girl to please her man.
This sci-fi Hansel and Gretel looks amazing, but its ultra-gross-out scenes, eating bugs, oozing slime and repulsive make-up simply serve as a turn off. The director is so in love with the lush visuals and cinematography, every shot in the movie gets twice the screen time necessary. The film should get five stars for it’s look and about one star for the story, which is bogged down by the interminably dull pacing. As it is, style over substance will probably get you hired in Hollywood, but it will get you half-hearted, polite applause from an audience.
