Brilliant and frustrating in equal measure, Holy Motors illogical narrative (or rather lack of one) is countered by one of the year’s best leading performances and director Leos Carax playful, imaginative and confronting imagery.

Head trip cinema can go either way. Take David Lynch as an example: one moment he’s messing with our heads with spectacular aplomb in Mulholland Drive and the next he’s driving us cookoo with Inland Empire.

Make no mistake about it, Holy Motors is a film that makes no sense at all. Yet like the most beautiful, twisted and irrelevant of dreams it is a movie that will stay in your head and create dreamscapes of its own.

Central to the visceral madness is Monsieur Oscar (Denis Lavant) a mysterious figure who leaves his home under heavy security, enters a while limousine and proceeds to read 9 case files, each file a character and scenario he acts out across the city of Paris with his limousine doubling as a transformation station filled with costumes, make up kits and wigs. Each transformation is a sight to behold.

While the “why?” of this scenario is never explained (and truth be told it would cheapen the film is done so) the “how” is a thing to behold, Carax providing a cinematic experience unlike anything seen.

Originality (though) has its short comings. In the case of Holy Motors there is an emotional void that comes from having such an enigmatic and un-relatable character lead us through this maze of deceit and illusion.Yet while its characters are impersonal its scenarios evoke strong reactions as told through Carax’s confident direction and Lavant’s fearless performance.

The more said about Lavant’s performance, the better. Not many actors could pull off what he has achieved here with such conviction and fearlessness, even though he is ultimately let down by the fact that Holy Motors is not a film which can be easily consumed. Yet like the best art, this is a good thing.   

Carax has created a brilliantly original piece of art with Holy Motors. The kinky, the strange, the horrific, the heartfelt and (ultimately) the weird are all felt with each different scenario. However be warned: those without some practice in the ways of foreign-art-house-weirdness just might find themselves struggling to keep it together.