Review of Wristcutters: A Love Story (2007) by Stuart K — 02 Sep 2011

Based upon a short story by Israeli writter Etgar Keret entitled Kneller's Happy Campers, and the feature debut of writer/director Goran Dukic. This is a very offbeat, and quite quirky look at the afterlife, it's quite original, it is slow moving, but it's sheer off-kilter tone is worth watching the film for.

Despaired after his girlfriend Desiree (Leslie Bibb) leaves him, Zia (Patrick Fugit) commits suicide by slashing his wrists. He ends up in a weird limbo of an afterlife in a world which is exactly like ours, only a little more derelict and the colour is bleached.

Plus, there's no stars in the sky, no flowers grow and no-one can smile. Other inhabitants of this world are other people who have also committed suicide, including Russian rocker Eugene (Shea Whigham), who died by electrocution, and hitchhiker Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon), who died from an accidental overdose, and believes she doesn't belong in this world, and wants to find who's in charge and speak to them of this misunderstanding, so the trio head off on a road trip to find who's in charge, but Zia discovers that Desiree has topped herself too and is also in this limbo.

To describe this film, you'd have to think along the lines of What Dreams May Come done by Wes Anderson, it's a very weird romance film but it works, and it's got good offbeat support from Will Arnett and Tom Waits as well.

It's good to see a film like this come along, you won't get one like this for a while now.