French-Canadian director Denis Côté has described his method as an attempt to create a “no-comfort zone for the audience” that leaves the impression “that a film can fall apart at any second.” That’s a fair description of Vic + Flo Saw a Bear, which sustains the sense that—even in its most mundane moments—something extremely odd is about to happen. When something, at long last, truly horrifying occurs, it’s a confirmation that this little patch of the Quebec woods might not be far on the map from Twin Peaks.
Victoria (Pierrette Robitaille) has come to the forest after her release from a serious prison sentence—what her crime was, we don’t know.