REPULSE (aka HRANA ZLOMU, 2021)

New streaming on Screambox!
Directed/Written by Emil Krizka.
Starring Pavla Gajdosíková, Stepán Kozub, Petr Panzenberger, Alena Sasínová-Polarczyk

From Czechoslovakia comes REPULSE, which tells a tale of two families; one poor, the other well to do—both of them, though, equally twisted.

REPULSE is a weird little number. It takes place over the span of about two days telling two tales about two families. But if splitting this movie into two narratives focusing on two families isn’t odd enough, REPULSE also tells these tales in a non-linear way, each scene telling the story a little earlier or later in the narrative, both getting closer to a chance encounter between the two storylines. So, while there are all kinds of other messed up things happening here, writer/director Emil Krizka makes it a challenge to follow narratively, especially if you aren’t paying attention. I think, because these two stories are so simple on their own, it makes for a movie that isn’t going to lose attentive viewers. Still, those who breezily watch films, not really paying attention to what’s going on and are easily distracted might find this one not worth enduring. REPULSE plays with the linear narrative we often take for granted. Telling these stories in a straight forward fashion would have been quite bland and not really given the climax of each storyline a chance to resonate as they did.

I’m being vague to avoid spoilers, because these two tales are very simple. One narrative follows an inattentive husband in a loveless marriage who comes home to find a man in his wife’s bed. The other is about an abducted woman being held by a man-child who wears animal masks and his equally twisted mother. While the latter family is very disturbing on the surface, especially since it seems the abducted woman has lived with the mother and son for quite some time and some very disturbing things have occurred in this time, the first story about the loveless marriage proves to be equally strange with a quieter, yet no less destructive conflict going on. I guess if there is a theme going on, it’s the nihilistic view that everyone is messed up in their own way. Sure everyone doesn’t wear a bird mask while trying procreate with a prisoner while one’s mother is watching and cheering it all on, but the way the husband refuses to touch his wife even to the point of wearing leather gloves is pretty messed up as well. They’re just two different extremes; one polite and distant, the other brash and invasive.

That’s at least what I got from REPULSE. It’s quite the disturbing little number that I saw days ago and can’t seem to shake. On top of the odd narrative choices and strange characters, REPULSE also has very little dialog, relying on facial expressions, closeups, and broad actions to tell the entire tale. Though all of this narrative crosscutting might have rang pretentious in the wrong hands, it surprisingly works here as I found both tales to be intriguing, as well as when the two narratives collide. At least I can say that REPULSE is unlike anything I’ve seen in quite a while, which is something I can’t say about ninety percent of the films I see.

Check out the trailer here!!