The Forbidden Room (2015) review

The main storyline of a group of men trapped in a submarine who get visited (magically!) by an outdoorsman is really the jump off point for Maddin to unleash multiple storylines, most of which seem to have little (if anything) to do with each other. It goes without saying that Maddin - working here with Evan Johnson - is one of the most unique filmmakers and visual stylists of all time - borrowing heavily from silent films and theater - except in this case the aesthetic is so manic and jarring that it distracts from any possible larger point he may be trying to make (he dips into his familiar Oedipal obsessions with the Blind Mother part). It's an exhausting (and baffling) film about film, not about 'real life' ... although now that I think about it, it could actually be about how to properly bathe. Don't forget to clean behind your ears!