Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator

Honestly, it depends on how much patience you’ve got for a movie that refuses to tell you where it's going. If you need a clear plot with a beginning, middle, and end, you’re going to hate this. You’ll probably spend half the runtime checking your phone to see how much is left. But if you’re into mood pieces—the kind of stuff that just hangs in the air like smoke—you might get something out of it. It’s definitely a vibe.
H. Stahl is the center of this thing, and he’s doing a lot with very little dialogue. There’s a specific scene in a kitchen where he’s just staring at a faucet, and I swear he stood there for a full minute. Most movies would have cut that out, but here? It felt oddly essential. It’s like the director decided the silence was the most important character.
Watching this reminded me a bit of the pacing in The Burning Secret, though they aren't really the same animal at all. It has that same feeling of something hovering just off-screen. It’s not trying to impress you with big swings or loud emotional outbursts. It just is.
There are moments where the camera just sits there, waiting for someone to move, and they don't. It’s kind of funny if you think about it long enough. It’s almost like the characters are just as bored as we are. Or maybe they're just exhausted.
Don't go looking for a deep, life-changing message here. You’ll just end up disappointed. Just take it for what it is—a strange, slightly uneven, and very personal look at a guy having a few bad days. 🎥
It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not even close. But I’d take this kind of honest, messy work over a polished corporate product any day of the week.
Year
1936
IMDb Rating
—

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