In the Electric Mist*

The driver is Elrod Sykes (Peter Sarsgaard), a prominent actor who is in town making a film partly financed by gangster Julie ‘Baby Feet’ Balboni (John Goodman). Sykes tells Robicheaux that while filming a scene they discovered the chained, decomposed body of a Negro man and agrees to take him there. The discovery unleashes painful memories for Robicheaux who begins to suspect that the two cases are somehow connected. But the closer his investigations bring him to the murderer, the closer the murderer gets to his own family.

In The Electric Mist is a film with a split personality. It may well become a cult movie for that very reason, examined time and again to explain fundamental differences between American and European ways of filmmaking. The director’s version is a stunning film; moody, atmospheric, thoughtful and very satisfying. However the US Producers wanted more action thriller than mystery which resulted in a furious falling out during the edit. Flexing their mighty muscles they prevented the film’s release and issued their own high octane version straight to DVD. We have sourced a rarely seen 35mm print from the French production team. This is the only opportunity to see the director’s cut on the big screen. Don’t miss out.