Enter the quirky world of filmmaker Quentin Dupieux for offbeat laughs, giant flies and Jean Dujardin’s ‘killer style’.
Life may be weird enough at the moment, but for a surreal experience that is an absolute treat, check out the recently-released MANDIBULES (VOD), by indie maverick Quentin Dupieux.
You may know him better as Mr Oizo, the DJ behind the ultra-catchy – and demanding-on-the-neck – tune Flat Beat. But the French artist has picked up renown as the writer-director of stylish, eccentric and extraordinarily-deadpan absurdist comedies.
His latest follows the freewheeling misadventures of two idiotic but lovable deadbeat friends who find a dog-sized fly in the trunk of a car – and decide to train it for money. Think Dumb and Dumber meets Being John Malkovich, with the added joy of an appropriately quirky tune by Metronomy.
Clocking in at just 1h17min, you should team it up with QD’s equally short but even more impressively-bonkers previous effort, DEERSKIN (HBO Max).
Boasting the heavyweight duo of Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin and Portrait of a Lady On Fire lead Adèle Haenel – both on stupendous form – it’s a hilarious take on the midlife crisis ‘genre’, as a man’s obsession with a ridiculous jacket descends into unlikely and bloody madness.
For further satisfying trips into the absurd, check out DR STRANGELOVE for classic satire, THE LOBSTER for dystopian romance or SORRY TO BOTHER YOU for modern social commentary.