Mr. K

A tired and melancholic travelling magician (Crispin Glover) wanders around the endless halls of a dilapidated hotel. Rest and quiet are out of the picture though, as an entire marching band might storm out of a crack in the wall. Against his will, Mr. K is taken to meet the bizarre characters inhabiting the hotel, without hope of getting out. Bit by bit his eyes start opening to the biggest mysteries of the universe, and whatever is behind them.

There’s a lot to read between the lines, as the hierarchical yet poorly working kitchen, and the richest, demanding more and more bread and circuses, can be understood to be mocking the ultracapitalist modern society. The claustrophobic nightmare’s restrained and reluctant magician is played by Crispin Glover, who does his best freak performance in years.

Director-writer Tallulah Schwab spent 20 years planning the film. Inspired by the literature of Kafka and William S. Burroughs, as well as the surrealists from Luis Buñuel to Jean-Pierre Jeunet and the Coen brothers, the film’s absurdity echoes the spirit of old-school metaphysical satire, elements that are now rarely seen anywhere outside of your wildest dreams.

Paavo Ihalainen (translated by Vilja Hynynen)