An insignificant Water Inspector (Joen Højerslev) arrives at a giant remote building in order to register the residents’ water meters. Before he knows of it, he finds himself trapped inside facing an “Alice in NO-Wonderland”-like maze of obstacles. While trying to escape, his perception of reality, the rational, and the remnants of his human existence are all turned upside down in this Kafkaesque tale.

A “striking first feature” from Danish writer/director Jonas Kaerup Hjort that blends “absurdity and theatricality to a stylized tale of humanity unravelling” (Screen Daily), THE PENULTIMATE had its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

“Unfolding in a place whose barebones furnishings are positively Brechtian… THE PENULTIMATE offers up a shabbily absurdist dystopia, somewhere in the grey area between Lewis Carroll and Franz Kafka.” –Projected Figures

DIRECTED BY JONAS KÆRUP HJORT
DENMARK | 2020 | DANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES