DER NACHTMAHR
VANGUARD D: Akiz. Germany. 88 min. Sep 17, 9 pm Bloor Hot Docs Sep 18, noon, Scotiabank 3 Sep 20, 6 pm Scotiabank 14. See listing. Rating: NNN
In this deliberately disorienting, visually unsettling and just plain weird film, Berlin teenager Tina (Carolyn Genzkow) survives a bad trip at a rave only to find herself shadowed by a needy homunculus that no one else can see or hear.
German filmmaker Akiz’s third feature isn’t really a horror movie, though: Tina becomes strangely protective of her lumpy little friend, which sets her on a very strange path. But for all the visual pyrotechnics on display, it’s Genzkow’s wide-open performance – opposite both her human co-stars and the foam-rubber one – that sells the drama.
