Yannis Sainte-Rose’s short ‘Mal Nomn’ is an outrageously deft work of Caribbean satire

Third Horizon Film Festival – ‘Mal Nonm’ is a satirical world-bending take on daily violence against women. Despite its crafty comedic moments, I didn't laugh once – and that’s a good thing.

A pair of jeans is the portal to an altered reality for a misogynistic Nicolas Nardal. Ask any Caribbean woman who has had the joy of being out in the world for a day to recount her interaction with men who are strangers, coworkers, and friends, and you’ll likely hit every beat in this story.

Set in Martinique, performed in Martinican Creole with English subtitles, Mal Nonm opens with our ‘Tuff Guy’ Nicolas (Nelson-Rafael Madel) shopping for a pair of jeans for a job interview. The unassuming saleswoman (Claire-Laura Flamand) finds him an option with a smile, which he takes as an invitation to make lewd remarks and invite her into the dressing room with him. She turns him down, which he didn’t take well to, but she holds her composure and completes the sale with a smile.

The next morning, things get a little weird for Nicolas. We follow him on a day in a parallel reality where he experiences what the creators call “a series of remarks and micro-attacks usually reserved for women” – so, violence.

What’s fantastical about this reality is that it’s not all directed at him. We don’t get the feeling that everyone is in on the joke but him, this is just life. There are a few moments where this writing team uses secondary characters our lead doesn’t interact with, and even its production design, to drive home the point.

Most notably, we see an older woman give unsolicited directions to an older man who is parallel parking in a tight spot. He doesn’t need her help, but she stops to give it, following that up with some unwanted sexual attention.

Adding to the fantasy, while Nicolas waits to go into his interview, his pants get tighter as two women discuss how inappropriately dressed he is for the occasion. A macro CGI shot, paired with grating SFX, shows the moment the fabric around his leg suctions onto his skin making it uncomfortable to walk into his interview, which doesn’t go as he would expect.

When he leaves, he hightails it back to the shop to complain about his pants and request an exchange. This interaction seemed like an opening for the story to show us that the saleswoman was in fact the source of his misfortunes in a supernatural way – but it doesn’t go all the way there.

Nicolas tries to unwind from the already frustrating day with friends in a bar, but true to life, the hits don’t stop coming. He survives a belligerently drunk woman, a ‘gang’ of women on a dark road, only to come home to his wife who lands the final blow of the day.

Don’t expect any resolution here, Mal Nonm delivers all the outrage but no consequences, a state of reality in which so many of us are all too familiar. This short is a must-watch for its story and colorful cinematography.

Mal Nonm was screened virtually at the 2021 Third Horizon Film Festival.