A Kind of Testament Review

A Kind of Testament, dir. Stephen Vuillemin

In A Kind of Testament, a woman tries to register a website in her name, only to find out the website already exists. Even stranger, the website is devoid of content, save for a collection of animations based and expanding on pictures from her social media. What at first seems a horror story about 21st century stalking becomes a meditation on death and vanity as the mystery of the website is unveiled.

Testament is reminiscent of the works of Junji Ito, not just in its uncanny artstyle, but also in the way the story blends reality-blending absurdism into mundane, everyday situations. While the narrator begins by describing inoffensive short animations, the situations they imagine are just strange enough to be unsettling. By the final segment, Testament has primed its audience so well to expect the bizarre that what should be the most horrific of scenes becomes as darkly comedic as it is macabre. 

As each animation discussed in Testament features the narrator as a character, the film itself dwells on questions of identity and the ownership thereof. Are the animations a warning? If so, are they from a stalker, the narrator herself, or just someone who stumbled across her photos? And of course, what does it mean for the narrator to see herself in these animations?A reason for the animations is never given, even after the animator is revealed. Testament is more concerned with the question than providing answers, but the questions it leaves you with are more haunting than any answer ever could be. 

Review by: Jeff Bulmer