USA
2024 85 mins
OV English
“Joel Potrykus Blows Up Middle Age in Bleak and Shocking Style”
– Katie Rife, INDIEWIRE “Resonant in all kinds of unexpected ways… A bittersweet story of the parallel paths that we all travel, at different paces, in the one inevitable direction, and the distractions we find to entertain or unravel us along the way”
– Anton Bitel, PROJECTED FIGURES “There is no film you’ll ever see like it”
– Chase Hutchinson, COLLIDER “I have a stomach ache too, man. I shouldn’t even be doing this with a stomach ache. You don’t have a stomach ache! I have a bad stomach ache!”
VULCANIZADORA follows Derek (Joel Potrykus, director of
RELAXER and
THE ALCHEMIST COOKBOOK), a father who would rather take a bottle rocket to the face than confront his failures, and Marty (Joshua Burge,
RELAXER, APE), an arsonist who is leading the charge on the sprint toward hellfire and away from his juvenile transgressions. These best friends embark on a seemingly innocent camping trip through the Michigan woods, but their disturbing pact becomes increasingly clear as they approach the X on the map!
Functioning as a spiritual sequel to writer/director Joel Potrykus’ 2014 offbeat slacker portrait
BUZZARD,
VULCANIZADORA engages in dialogue with the past, reflecting on different stages of the filmmaker’s life. Where
BUZZARD’s Marty thrives in youthful rebellion, angst, and apathy,
VULCANIZADORA’s Marty is more reserved, older, and in search of consequences for his crimes. Playing the foil to Burge’s more solemn performance is Potrykus himself, who plays the character Derek with a hilarious case of diarrhea of the mouth, fitting of his incredibly thick goatee. Together, they put forward an emotional depth that allows the audience to see themselves in Derek and Marty’s search for control in lives that have escaped their grasp.
With Potrykus’ sharp editing basking in the long take, and the camera of long-time cinematographer Adam J. Minnick’s (
CHAINED FOR LIFE, QUANTUM COWBOYS) capturing beautiful 16mm images from a Haneke-esque distance, the two traverse the Michigan forest leaving a subtle sense of unease in their path that will settle in the back of your brain as you piece together the mystery behind why these two very different people are wandering through the trees!
VULCANIZADORA showcases Potrykus at his most contemplative, exploring the tale of the aging metalhead through his trademarked twisted sense of humour, using this film as a response to a time capsule dug up from the past. –
Vincenzo Nappi