In this 70 minute German movie shot on 16mm film, writer/director Tilman Singer conjures an otherworldy atmosphere from both a limited budget and just a few locations. The very first scene is drawn-out, almost wordless and shot from a distance. With this, and the colour palette, you immediately feel like you are in another time, another place. The story then unfolds in a non-linear but inventive fashion which I found enjoyable and intriguing.
The plot revolves around the titular Luz, a cab driver who enters a police station dazed and confused. At the same time a couple of strangers engage in a weird conversation in a bar nearby. The connection between these two events and the characters involved is teased out through the movie. It would be a major spoiler to say much more, but there is some supernatural peril that comes to the fore – this is a (mostly) horror blog after all!
Once the movie was over, my first thought was that the director must be a fan of Stanley Kubrick, given the way in which some of the scenes were filmed. I’m not sure whether this is true or even a correct comparison, but it was where my brain went! The other things that sprung to mind were ‘confident’ and ‘assured’ which, for what is apparently (I haven’t researched this myself, I heard it on Strong Language and Violent Scenes podcast) a film made as a student’s dissertation, is no mean feat. In any case, I’m really excited to see what else Singer makes in the future.
Even at just over an hour this film does take its time to get to where it’s going, so this may not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s right up my straße and gets a superb 9 on the Skelpometer.
Luz is available to rent or buy on Prime Video