It’s not hard to figure out why “Apocalypse Clown” premiered to nothing but sell out shows in this year’s “Fantasia Film Festival.” Even after so many years watching so many unusual movies, I have never really seen anything like “Apocalypse Clown” before. And I doubt I ever will again. That’s both a good thing and a bad thing, as George Kane offers up such an original and surreal apocalyptic comedy. I was so confused but amused at what I’d been watching, as director and writer Kane opts to spotlight a movie that focuses on some of the most unlikely protagonists imaginable.
A group of failed street clowns are locked up in jail after getting in to a brawl with a pair of local living statue performers. While incarcerated a cosmic event shuts down the world’s electronics, prompting them to ride around looking for answers. Along the way the troupe comes across a tribe of wood folks, feral children, and survivalist, all while grappling with their identities and aspirations to perform, and evading a pair of the vengeful, violent human statues.
Even at the end of the world the struggles of being an artist and impostor syndrome are still there, and while the end of humanity is a sad thing, what becomes even direr for this troupe is their inability to achieve their dreams. They take it upon themselves to go on individuals missions, all of which involve episodic adventures in to uncovering the cause of the end of the world. There are also a lot of hallucinations involving clowns, a drug addled rave of some kind, and feral children thrown in the mix. Suffice to say, director Kane’s film is such a treat to watch as it is filled with so much self awareness and tongue in cheek humor that’s leans in heavy on surrealism. So while there are no zombies or cannibals, there are living statue performers that are hunting the clown troupe.
Along the way the clowns even take a detour to visit an ex boy band performer turned survivalist who offers his own theories about how the world came to end. While there is some resemblance to “Night of the Comet,” the primary storyline is centered on the humanity and struggles of these failed clowns, all of whom could never quite accomplish their dreams in the former life. Kane and the writers focus on characters that were rejects in the former life and are—still kind of rejects in this new life. In spite of that, the collective cast is all wonderful in their roles, including David Earl as the lovelorn Bobo, Amy De Bruhn as aspiring reporter Jenny, and Fionn Foley as failed mime Pepe, respectively.
The run away scene stealer and stand out performance, though, is from Natalie Palamides as clown Funzo. She inspires the most laughs in the piece as a street clown who is much too scary for passersby and she refuses to acknowledge it. Palamides is just hilarious and she works well off of the aforementioned cast. “Apocalypse Clown” is such a weird but fun, funny, and inventive meshing of genres and sub-genres. It’s a bold grasp at an original bit of esoteric, surrealist comedy that’s sure to offer some hearty laughs.
Will be in UK and Ireland Cinemas on September 1st.