Many science fiction horror stories have focused on identity, playing with the question of what happens when who we are is somehow taken away from us. Visionary Danish story The Man Who Thought Life takes these themes to their very extremes, making for a captivating tale.

Preben Neergaard plays Dr. Max Holst, a successful brain surgeon called into work one day after a man is committed due to psychiatric issues. Asking for Holst by name, the patient reveals himself to be Steinmetz (John Price), a wealthy man who claims to be able to produce material objects from thin air, using only his mind. He asks Holtz to perform brain surgery on him, to allow him to gain the ability to produce living beings in the same way.

Convinced Steinmetz is mad, Holtz refuses the offer, only to find the man has materialised a key to his cell and escaped. As the doctor continues to refuse his request, Steinmetz begins to ‘replace’ Holtz with his growing powers, forcing the man out of his own life.

Debuting at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival, director Jens Ravn’s film looks remarkable, echoing the greats of the time. There’s more than a hint of Stanley Kubrick in the clean symmetrical sets, the 90-degree pans, and a future that doesn’t look too far from our own. As Holtz further enters the world of his tormentor, the normality of his suburban life fades and he become trapped in a maze of hospital hallways and spotless mansions. Ravn allows the sets to tell the story as much as the actors, adding to the sense of dread.

While occasionally slow-moving, the plot touches on something unsettling within us. As science progresses, could who we are as people become more elastic, even replaceable? Is a disquieting thought that, like Steinmetz’s power in the film, materialises slowly but powerfully. The story also debates the nature of progress, asking whether the ability to move mankind forward is worth those who are trampled in evolution’s march.

This well-told, queasy psychological horror is underpinned by its stars. Neergaard is a perfect everyman, delivering a believable response to what is happening around him. He matches beautifully with Price, a charismatic but slippery figure that, on occasion, brings to mind Peter Lorre. As Max’s fiancée Susanne, Lotte Tarp does her best with a thinly written part, mainly existing as a bargaining chip between the two men.

Claustrophobic and intense, The Man Who Thought Life follows through on an interesting premise, pulling the viewer into its strange world and keeping you gripped for 93 minutes, until the final frame.

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