''Flux Gourmet'' is a 2022
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
film written and directed by
Peter Strickland and starring
Fatma Mohamed
Fatma Mohamed (born 1975) is a Romanian actress known for her appearances in all five of director Peter Strickland's feature films, namely ''Katalin Varga'', ''Berberian Sound Studio'', ''The Duke of Burgundy'', ''In Fabric'' and '' Flux Gourmet'' ...
,
Gwendoline Christie
Gwendoline Tracey Philippa Christie (born 28 October 1978) is an English actress who is best known for portraying Brienne of Tarth in the HBO fantasy-drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019). She is also widely known for her role the Firs ...
,
Makis Papadimitriou
Makis Papadimitriou ( el, Μάκης Παπαδημητρίου) is a Greek actor. He has appeared in more than thirty films since 2003.
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living ...
, and
Asa Butterfield
Asa Bopp Farr Butterfield (; born Asa Maxwell Thornton Farr Butterfield on 1 April 1997) is an English actor. He has received nominations for three British Independent Film Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and three Young ...
.
Synopsis
A trio of experimental performance artists, known for their process of "sonic catering" (where they extract disturbing
sounds from various foods) take up residency at a remote artistic institution, run by a wealthy, enigmatic director who is funding the project. The group is led by a narcissistic, controlling woman named Elle. A self-described "hack" journalist named Stones is hired to document the day-to-day activities of the group, while dealing with unpleasant gastrointestinal disorders, for which tests are being administered by an on-site doctor. As Stones documents the artistic collective's power struggles, vendettas, rehearsals, performances, and sordid history, he increasingly becomes a participant in the artistic proceedings.
Cast
*
Asa Butterfield
Asa Bopp Farr Butterfield (; born Asa Maxwell Thornton Farr Butterfield on 1 April 1997) is an English actor. He has received nominations for three British Independent Film Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and three Young ...
as Billy Rubin
*
Gwendoline Christie
Gwendoline Tracey Philippa Christie (born 28 October 1978) is an English actress who is best known for portraying Brienne of Tarth in the HBO fantasy-drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019). She is also widely known for her role the Firs ...
as Jan Stevens
*
Ariane Labed
Ariane Labed (born 8 May 1984) is a Greek-French actress and film director. She is known for her feature film debut in ''Attenberg'', for which she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and appearing in Helen Edmundson's film ''Mary Magdalene'' in ...
as Lamina Propria
*
Fatma Mohamed
Fatma Mohamed (born 1975) is a Romanian actress known for her appearances in all five of director Peter Strickland's feature films, namely ''Katalin Varga'', ''Berberian Sound Studio'', ''The Duke of Burgundy'', ''In Fabric'' and '' Flux Gourmet'' ...
as Elle di Elle
*
Makis Papadimitriou
Makis Papadimitriou ( el, Μάκης Παπαδημητρίου) is a Greek actor. He has appeared in more than thirty films since 2003.
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living ...
as Stones
*
Leo Bill
Leo Martin Bill (born 31 August 1980) is an English actor, best known for his role as James Brocklebank in the 2006 film '' The Living and the Dead'', as well as '' The Fall'', ''Alice in Wonderland'', and the FX/BBC One drama series ''Taboo''. ...
as Technical Assistant Wim
*
Richard Bremmer
Richard Bremmer (born 27 January 1953) is an English actor.
Early life
Bremmer was born and brought up in Warwickshire.
Career
Bremmer first began his career in the short film of ''Couples and Robbers'' before being in his first full-length fi ...
as Dr Glock
Production
Filming wrapped in July 2021.
Release
In July 2021, it was announced that
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its S ...
acquired North American distribution rights to the film. It premiered at the
Berlin Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...
on February 11, 2022. It also made it to 'World Cinema' section of
27th Busan International Film Festival
The 27th Busan International Film Festival () was held from October 5 at the Busan Cinema Center in Busan, South Korea till October 14. This year, the festival restarted events and program sections which were not conducted due to COVID-19 for la ...
to be screened in October 2022.
Reception
Box office
In the United States and Canada, the film earned $3,780 from 19 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $1,397 from six theaters the following weekend, and $4,387 in its third.
Critical response
The film has an 85% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 80 reviews, with a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
of 7.1/10. The site's consensus states, "''Flux Gourmet'' isn't for all tastes, but viewers attuned to writer-director Peter Strickland's unique wavelength will find this horror-laced satire a savory delight". On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film had a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."
Pat Brown of ''
Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' awarded the film two and a half stars out of four and wrote, "That being said, Strickland’s playful mockery of performance art and excessively serious-minded “collectives” feels both insular and, at times, a shade too flavorless." David Ehrlich of
IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
graded the film a B+ and wrote, "As usual, Strickland has made a sumptuous meal out of social impropriety — a strange cinematic delicacy about the discomforts that need to be shared so that others don’t have to be stomached." Matthew Joseph Jenner of the
International Cinephile Society
The International Cinephile Society is an online organization of professional film critics and journalists worldwide. Founded in 2003, it has obtained approximately 100 members—among them are Mike D'Angelo, Justin Chang (''Los Angeles Times''), ...
awarded the film four and a half out of five stars, writing "''Flux Gourmet'' is an absolute triumph, best enjoyed by those who accept that Strickland’s work is undeniably an acquired taste, but one that offers a truly unforgettable experience, one that may even tempt us to go back for a second serving."
Peter Debruge of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' gave the film a negative review and wrote, "In fact, ''Flux Gourmet'' may well send audiences running for the loo, or else reaching for the barf bag, coming about as close to triggering the gag reflex as a film can without actually jamming a finger down your throat." Leslie Felperin of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Nevertheless, Strickland builds his own worlds with such a distinctive style — down to the fonts, the bilious shades of green and the textures of the silks — that the viewer can’t help feeling pulled into his crazy maelstrom of quirk."
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''.
Early life and education
Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...
of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' awarded the film three stars out of five and wrote, "''Flux Gourmet'' may yet have a claim to cult-favourite status, but Strickland has given us a stronger, realer taste in the past."
Anna Smith of ''
Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...
'' gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Strickland has delivered another delicious character-driven drama that balances the amusingly surreal with the uncomfortably real — and it’s a wild and witty ride."
References
External links
*
{{Peter Strickland (director)
2020s English-language films
2020s American films
2020s British films
2020s satirical films
2022 black comedy films
American avant-garde and experimental films
American black comedy films
American drama films
American satirical films
British avant-garde and experimental films
British black comedy films
British drama films
British satirical films
Films about artists
Films about food and drink
Films about musical groups
Films directed by Peter Strickland
Films set in England
Films shot in Yorkshire
IFC Films films