A group of people start a business where they impersonate the recently deceased in order to help their clients through the grieving process.
Greek director Giorgos Lanthimos follows up the strange, brilliant (and bizarrely Oscar-nominated) Dogtooth with an even more out-there slice of weirdness.
The movie’s morbidly funny once you get the hang of it, and climaxes deftly, but for too long Lanthimos feels like he’s stalling for no especial purpose.
Lanthimos is such a distinctive film-maker and nothing he does is without interest – but this is a misfire.
Writer-director Lanthimos delivers another heady dose of weirdness. Loopier than a frog sandwich but rather wonderful.
Charlie Kaufman or Chris Morris might have done wonders with the concept, but Lanthimos's oblique, misanthropic black comedy is most likely to appeal to those who found The Master a bit too straightforward. It's an uncompromising film from a singular talent, but it eventually feels as if one joke is being stretched past the point of being funny.
A nutty allegory.
Beyond the film being a parable about emotional disengagement, it’s hard to see what, if anything, Lanthimos is saying about modern Greece. And without that clear focus, the film feels a bit off-piste.
Requires multiple viewings to pick this one apart.
There's deep, then there's simply impenetrable.
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow from Tuesday November 20, 2012, until Thursday November 22, 2012. More info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Friday December 14, 2012, until Sunday December 16, 2012. More info: www.filmhousecinema.com
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