Playdurizm (2022) by Gem Deger


Director: Gem Deger
Year: 2022
Country: Czech Republic
Alternate Titles: N/A

Plot:
After awakening in a strange alternate world, a disillusioned teen is torn between leaving the reality back to the natural world or staying with his male idol inside the fantasy, but as it becomes more obvious how nightmarish the lifestyle might be the less interested he becomes.

Review:
Overall, there's not much to be said for this one. The main thing to appreciate here is the overwhelmingly dynamic and impressive visual aesthetic on display which manages to fuse together a slew of vibrant neon colors together. The uniqueness of the whole dream world here, not just relegated to the meshing of colors lighting up everything but the wholly dynamic and arresting design of the room where the majority of their fantasies play out comes off quite impressively which helps to make the film's features exploring their fantasy relationship feel that much more targeted towards a surreal landscape. This all helps to enhance the relationship on display, going from a highly impressive lust to a more layered and expressive dynamic that has an eerie air that's quite fun to see degenerate into a darker atmosphere.

Other than that, though, there's not a whole lot to this one. The main thing against this one is the generally uninvolved storyline that manages to basically feel like a repeat of the same thing over and over again. It's not really that interesting to keep seeing the two play around in the room where things slowly become darker and more ominous but things just become stale with the constant interplay here focused on shifting between the desire to stay with each other and the need to get over his traumatic past. That makes the film yet another in a long line of dreary, depressing efforts focused on childhood trauma as a launching pad for the horrors to be faced in the modern-day and it's not an interesting concept anymore with so many films featuring this setup which makes this feel all the less impactful.

Comments