Rubber
Directed by Quentin Dupieux
- comedy
- drama
- fantasy
- horror
- mystery
The story
In the California desert, the adventures of a telepathic killer-tire, mysteriously attracted by a very pretty girl, as witnessed by incredulous onlookers.
What it’s like
Flat, sun-bleached desert light and wide empty road shots give way to deadpan, static framings of a fictional film crew watching the action from behind a police cordon, all of it shot with a cool, slightly grainy digital clarity. The palette runs to dusty ochres, washed-out blues and the glossy black of a single rubber tire, which rolls through scrubland with a kind of innocent, unhurried menace. Sound is sparse: wind over sand, flat ambient hum, and abrupt, absurd bursts of score that undercut the seriousness of every scene. The vibe is dry, self-aware absurdism, a playful shrug at genre conventions, with the odd gory moment of violence played for laughs and quickly undercut by the characters' indifference. Pacing is loose and meandering, with long stretches of watching people watch things, and the register is cool and wry rather than thrilling. Best for viewers who enjoy meta-comedy, surreal shaggy-dog humour, and a late-night watch with friends, and who don't need a story to make sense.
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