Film: Stutter
Type: Psychological
Country: Germany
Writer / Director: Sebastian Matthias Weißbach
Rating: 5.4 / 10
Widower Jon is struggling to navigate his grief after his wife’s suicide. He loses focus in conversations and constantly blurs the lines between imagination and reality. His affair with the mysterious Red is supposed to help him find his footing again, but instead it drives him further into the depths of his fragile psyche.
Weißbach’s psychological horror is a trippy, erotically charged exploration of death, guilt and trauma. The scenes jump between different timelines, characters and locations – mirroring the chaos of Jon’s (Oskar Brown) own mind. It’s often unclear whether the interactions he has with various people are hallucinations, his imagination or genuine conversations which adds an enjoyable layer of confusion that puts the viewer on a level playing field with the films main protagonist, who also struggles to grasp his understanding of the truth. His relationship with Red (Judith Shoemaker) is very dark, with some shock-inducing comments made by Red that unexpectedly take you by surprise. Her infatuation with his dead wife’s suicide is uncomfortably intense and adds a sinister layer to her personality that ramps up the suspenseful tension in the narrative.
Though, confusingly, the films focal point is supposed to centre around the digital stutter signal that only Jon can hear, but ironically it gets lost in the noise of the rest of the story. Other than a few references to an old radio, and an occasional dull static noise in the background, it isn’t prominent enough to really personify the film itself. It would help if the sound got louder either as the film progresses, or at any key parts to signify his mental state deteriorating further, but as it stands, it feels more like an additional afterthought to the psychological trauma that is mainly explored. The real draw of this film comes from the intensity of his muddled state of mind – that plays with your own perception of what is happening at any given moment.
The incredible Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival is now in it’s 9th year – a brilliant festival for scary movie fans with a curated collection of some of the best independent horror features, shorts & web series. The screenings take place mainly at the wonderful Hen & Chickens Theatre in Highbury & Islington!
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