The Lower Depths: A bleak, beautiful mess

Is it worth your time?

If you like movies that feel like a cold, wet blanket in the best way possible, then yes. It is a dense, smoky, claustrophobic experience. If you are looking for a breezy escape, stay far away from this basement. It is not going to cheer you up.

There is this moment near the middle where the noise just stops. You know the kind—the frantic, shouting mess of the slum clears out, and you are left with just two people talking about nothing in particular. It feels like the movie finally took a breath. And then, it ruins it again with more bickering.

René Stern is doing some really strange things with his posture here. He is constantly hunching, like he is trying to hide from the ceiling. It is a tiny detail, but it makes the space feel even smaller than it already is.

I found myself staring at the background extras more than the main cast. There is one guy in the corner of the room who just seems to be eating a piece of dry bread for about three straight minutes. He never looks up. He just chews. It is oddly hypnotic.

The whole thing feels like a stage play that decided to break out of its cage but forgot how to walk. It is messy. People talk over each other. Sometimes the audio is a bit muddy, but I kind of like that. It adds to the feeling that you are eavesdropping on a conversation you shouldn't be hearing.

Jean Gabin is playing that classic archetype, the thief with a heart, but he does it with enough grit that it doesn't feel like a cartoon. He has this look in his eyes, like he is bored by his own cleverness. It is pretty great.

The relationship between the thief and the young woman is... frustrating. She is so stuck in her own misery that she barely registers the world outside her family’s cruelty. It is hard to watch. Maybe that is the point.

I kept thinking about The Life of Jimmy Dolan while watching this, mainly because they are both about people trying to escape where they came from. But while one is looking for a way out, the characters in The Lower Depths seem to have forgotten that an exit even exists.

The lighting is dark. Like, really dark. I had to squint at my screen during the night scenes. But honestly, it fits. If you lived in a place like this, you wouldn't want the lights on either.

• The dialogue is sharp enough to cut yourself on.
• The basement set looks like it actually smells bad.
• The pacing is erratic—sometimes it crawls, sometimes it just jumps ahead.
• I still don't know what that one guy was doing with the bread.

It is not a perfect movie. It is not even a polished one. But it feels real in a way that most modern dramas completely miss. It is just people, trapped, talking, and waiting for something that is never coming. 🎥