Vincent René-Lortie and Invincible: Honouring an Entire Life in a Short Film
Interview by Andreas Babiolakis
Chances are you’ve heard of the 2022 short film Invincible, as it has become a viral sensation seemingly overnight. Once it was announced as being a part of the Academy Awards shortlist for the Best Live Action Short Film category this year, this powerful title started popping up everywhere on social media. It features Léokim Beaumier-Lépine as Marc-André Bernier, whose final days alive are captured as candidly as possible in this harrowing, emotional tribute to a young, lost soul. These thirty minutes waste no time acquainting you with a character based on a real person, reminding you that everyone has a story, a purpose, and love to both give and receive. Invincible is a challenging yet important watch surrounding a conversation on mental health that cannot be sugar-coated anymore.
This is the work of Vincent René-Lortie: an exciting director from Canada who has left his mark in the world of music videos already (he is a Juno Award and Prism Prize nominee, and has worked with artists like Owen Pallet and Sheena Ko). Invincible is just the latest short film by René-Lortie, who also made Sit Still (2021), and La volière (2017), amongst others. Today, we had the opportunity to sit down with Vincent René-Lortie to discuss Invincible, the growing discussion and adoration surrounding the film, and how he feels about the shortlist acknowledgement by the Oscars. You can visit his website to learn more about him here, and check out his IMDb page here.
Films Fatale: How did you come across the true story that Invincible is based on? What was it like turning it into a short film?
Vincent René-Lortie: Invincible is based on a true story, that of my childhood friend Marc-Antoine Bernier, who tragically passed away at the age of fourteen after escaping from a juvenile centre. It was a profoundly impactful and heartbreaking event during my teenage years. Marc was an incredibly close friend, and his untimely death left me bewildered. At the time, I believed it was an accident, but five years later, I discovered that his death was probably the result of suicide. This realization made me aware of how little I knew about my friend, and the need to get closer to his story grew stronger. I wanted to understand what happened.
Creating this film became my way of reconnecting with him, attempting to comprehend his journey, and gaining a better understanding of why his life took such a tragic turn. Turning this into a short film was the most challenging aspect of the entire process. Depicting mental health in a film is difficult because it is invisible. In most movies, there are visible obstacles or enemies, but mental health struggles are internal. My goal was to portray someone who was suffering from within, battling both himself and a society that lacked the tools to listen.
The primary focus has always been on unravelling the events leading up to his passing, which is why I chose to centre the film on the forty-eight hours preceding that pivotal moment. The film doesn't solely fixate on the specific incident of his death; it delves deeper into the 'why' behind this tragedy, exploring the nuanced layers that accompanied it.
FF: What message do you want Invincible to share with the younger audiences that watch it? What about the older audiences?
VRL: It's a very good question. The film has always been a work that was more directed towards an adult audience, in fact. The reason is that, throughout my research process before shooting, I understood that in recent years, there has been a lot of progress on the subject of mental health in adults; people are much more inclined to talk about it openly. However, when it comes to mental health in children and teenagers, it's still a very closed and little-discussed topic.
Often, young people like Marc will be labelled as "bad kids," when in the end, their delinquency is often a sign of depression, a cry for help. That's why I wanted to make this film for an adult audience first, in the hope of engaging in a discussion with them, since they have the responsibility to listen and also to help. And of course, the film was also made with the intention that the younger audience feels seen, heard, and understood.
FF: How do you feel about the galloping awareness surrounding Invincible that continues to gain steam?
VRL: It truly touches me. I think the most beautiful thing emerging from this Oscars campaign is essentially the fact that the film is getting more and more visibility and being shared. Ultimately, I hope this film can provoke reflection among its audience – that's why I created it in the first place. And what I find most beautiful from all my discussions with the audience during the film screenings is that some people came up to me, sharing that they had encountered young individuals like Marc before, or that they had been in his shoes. It's the kind of thing that moved me deeply? I made this film based on a very personal story, but it turns out the theme is much more universal than I initially thought.
FF: If Invincible gets nominated for an Oscar soon, how do you plan on celebrating?
VRL: I think I can't think beyond the announcement of the nomination. It has been like this since the beginning of the campaign; I couldn't imagine being on the shortlist, and when we learned about it, I was completely stunned and disoriented by the announcement. I prefer not to think too much about it and take it one step at a time!
FF: What are your five favourite films of all time (or the five films that influenced you the most)?
VRL: Not in order of preference :
•Beast of the Southern Wild
•Aftersun
•Ida
•A Prophet
•Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.