In a final narration, Louis ponders whether being in a coma forever is bad, as it allows him to stay with his father. Peter's voice, however, tells Louis that the world is beautiful and he needs to grow up and live his life. Louis awakens from his coma, and the film ends.
After nearly death eight times in his unlucky life, Louis Drax falls off a cliff on his ninth birthday. The police investigate the circumstances of her near-fatal accident and attempt to verify the alibi of her abusive father, Peter. Dr. Allan Pascal, a renowned neurologist, uses unorthodox methods in trying to access Louis' subconscious to discover the reasons that led to his condition. But as he gradually sinks into the mystery surrounding Louis' ability to escape death, the doctor falls in love with the boy's mother, Natalie.
The title boy (Aiden Longworth) is one of those annoying/adorable widdle movie brats who never loses his gumption despite a long series of life-threatening accidents, culminating with a plunge off a cliff during a picnic with his mom (Sarah Gadon) and dad (Aaron Paul).
Louis Drax isn't like other children. The morbidly imaginative and sharply intuitive boy from a provincial city in France has survived eight suspicious accidents, one for each year of his life. On his ninth birthday, Louis suffers a mysterious fall from a cliff and ends up in Dr. Pascal Dannachet's experimental coma clinic, where the truth of his most recent mishap will be revealed. So begins British novelist Jensen's fourth book (War Crimes for the Home, etc.), a fiercely intelligent psychological thriller told from the alternating perspectives of the comatose Louis and the professionally conflicted Dr. Dannachet. As the French police search for Pierre Drax, the prime suspect in his son's fall, Louis negotiates the unconscious world with Gustave, his grotesque, bandaged imaginary companion, and Dr. Dannachet reluctantly falls in love with Louis's mother, Natalie. Behind the many twists and turns that ensue is a multilayered, genuinely convincing emotional drama that adds substance to the suspense. Families are torn apart, scientists are confounded by the miraculous, and the human heart unleashes its many secrets. Jensen's gift for black humor and off-kilter narratives shines throughout this page-turner, and her understanding of fractured psyches and their ability to heal is remarkable. The idiosyncrasies of her peculiar characters only make them more engaging, and at the end of Jensen's gripping tale, the reader is left eager for more. (Jan.)
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