Relaxer | |
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Directed by | Joel Potrykus |
Written by | Joel Potrykus |
Produced by | Ashley Young |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Adam J. Minnick |
Edited by | Joel Potrykus |
Music by | Alan Palomo |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Oscilloscope Laboratories |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Relaxer is a 2018 American comedy film written and directed by Joel Potrykus. [1] [2] It stars Joshua Burge, David Dastmalchian, Andre Hyland, Amari Cheatom, and Adina Howard. [3] Set in 1999, it tells the story of a man playing Pac-Man in a living room. [4] The film premiered at the South by Southwest on March 9, 2018, [5] and Burge won the Best Actor award at the 2018 Fantasia International Film Festival. [6] [7] The film was released in the United States on March 22, 2019. [8]
In 1999, Cam (David Dastmalchian) gives his younger brother Abbie (Joshua Burge) an ultimate challenge. Abbie is not allowed to leave the couch until he goes beyond the level 256 of Pac-Man .
The film was shot in the garage of a house owned by production designer Mike Saunders' parents. [4] It took four months to build the set. [4] The film's premise was inspired by Luis Buñuel's The Exterminating Angel . [4]
The film had its premiere at the South by Southwest on March 9, 2018. [5] It also screened at the Fantasia International Film Festival, [9] the Traverse City Film Festival, [10] and the Vancouver International Film Festival. [11] It was released in the United States on March 22, 2019. [12]
As of October 2021 [update] , the film holds a 68% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 34 reviews with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Relaxer is bound to strike many viewers as unpleasant, but this thoroughly unique comedy will strike a chord with fans of defiantly unsettling cinema." [13] At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [14]
Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave the film a grade of A, describing it as "a grotesque downward spiral, both hilarious and mesmerizing, but above all elevated by its insights into the depraved final gasp of the analog age." [15] Calum Marsh of The Village Voice stated that the film is "funnier, nastier, and more abrasive" than Joel Potrykus' 2014 film Buzzard . [16] Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com said, "through its precise filmmaking and whirlwind script about one loser who never gets off the couch, it's a magnetic, five-senses experience for slacker cinema." [9] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter said, "the claustrophobic, one-set film clearly invites metaphorical readings — but its allegories will play best to viewers who can stomach the idea of spending eternity on a couch playing Nintendo." [17] Carson Lund of Slant Magazine gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, calling it "a showcase for [Joshua] Burge and his exceptional features, from his beady eyes to slender frame." [18]