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| Source: Imdb |
This strange drama about a man struggling with life was not at all what I expected. The plot was ambiguous and the script told the story in a very unconventional way. The audience experiences the events through the eyes of Buster, which means that it is not always 100% clear what the reality is, which scenes are actually part of the story, and which are metaphors plucked from inside a disturbed brain – because the main character is quite obviously mentally ill in some way. This is exacerbated by his sad, grey existence in a dead-end job that doesn’t allow him to spend time with the only brightness in his life: his family. The film appears to deal with the struggle of finding your place in the world and the question of whether you can make your own way or are being led. The script also does an excellent job of building a strong sense of foreboding. The foreshadowing is so expertly done that one of the key scenes – Buster’s discovery in the hotel room – didn’t surprise me at all, yet made me feel physically sick with tension. Excellent job!
The acting was outstanding. Rami Malek was very convincing as a mentally unstable hotel worker as we watch him fall prey to ideas that feed into his ideology and drag him further out to sea – quite literally – as he challenges and rejects the reality of “the system” we live in. I was also pleased to see DJ Qualls (Garth from Supernatural) in a major role here. He did a great job with his shifty character. Lastly, Sukha Belle Potter, who played the young daughter of the main character, was brilliant. She had great chemistry with her on-screen dad and delivered a stunningly natural performance.
Visually, this piece used depressing colours to illustrate the bleak life that the main character is living. The beige hotel was so drab and boring it almost made my eyes water. The nature shots of the mid-winter forest were awe-inspiring. They really picked some good locations to film in.
All in all, a mystifying, shocking and touching arthouse piece with lots of hidden meaning. 3/5
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