During Gem Deger’s trippy Playdurizm, one of our main characters asks ‘What the f*ck is going on?’, which feels at times like an apt description of the film.
Playdurizm very much wears its influences on its sleeve, with David Cronenberg’s Videodrome being the most obvious, but with more of a neon tilt.
Our story centres of Demir, a teenager who has become trapped in a rather hazy and surreal reality and becomes increasingly obsessed with a man he watches continually on video rentals.
The strength of the film is its determination to exist in its own dystopia and ignore conventional storytelling methods. Just when you feel like you’ve got the film figured out, it throws you a curveball.
Playdurizm is also extremely sexually charged, with Demir’s attraction to Andrew being obvious from the start, and the erotic tension when they are around pours off the screen.
While the film may not be to everyone’s tastes it deserves plaudits for giving us something different and its safe to say this wouldn’t be a film this reviewer would seek out immediately if not for the Soho Horror Film Festival.
Playdurizm screened as part of the Soho Horror Film Festival – Pride Edition.
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