Chair Ardente: A Three-Day Disaster Worth Watching

Is this for you?

If you enjoy watching people make catastrophic life choices with zero hesitation, you'll probably dig this. It’s a short, sharp shock of a film. If you need your protagonists to be relatable or even remotely sensible, stay far away. You will hate every minute of it. 🍿

I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but Chair Ardente doesn't waste time on pleasantries. The whole premise is essentially: "I’m bored, I’m rich, and I’m going to go find a man who ruins things." It hits the ground running and honestly, it doesn't really stop to catch its breath.

There’s this one sequence near the middle where the atmosphere gets so thick you can practically smell the stale cigarettes and bad decisions. It’s not polished, and the lighting feels a bit like they were running out of daylight, but it works. It feels raw.

It’s funny, I was thinking about the pacing in Huckleberry Finn while watching this, and the contrast is just wild. This isn't an adventure; it’s a cage match with your own sanity. The actors look tired—not just in character, but actually tired. Like they’ve been shooting for sixteen hours straight. It adds this weird, jagged edge to the performances that you don't get in more 'prestige' stuff.

The criminal love interest character? He’s not charming. He’s not a hero. He’s just a guy who knows how to make life feel dangerous for a few days. The chemistry between them is less 'star-crossed lovers' and more 'two people standing too close to a bonfire'. 🔥

Odd little notes:

• The silence in the bedroom scenes is deafening. Almost too long.
• The way she walks out of her house? She doesn't even look back. Not once. It felt cold.
• There is a background extra in the second act who seems to be reading a newspaper that is clearly just blank paper.
• Some of the dialogue is so blunt it almost sounds like a threat.

I don't think this movie wants you to like these people. It just wants you to watch the train wreck. And honestly, I couldn't look away. It’s imperfect, the pacing stutters, and there’s a moment toward the end that feels like it belongs in an entirely different film, but that’s the charm. It doesn't feel manufactured. It feels like a fever dream that someone actually bothered to capture on camera.

Don't look for a moral lesson here. You won't find one. Just a messy three days that end exactly how you think they will. Sometimes that’s enough. 🎬