Synopsis
A young woman is told she's cursed and goes fundraising through Trashtown, USA, to raise $1,000 to pay a psychic to break it.
Written and Directed by Annapurna Sriram
Starring Annapurna Sriram, Sadie Scott, and Damian Young
Released No release date outside of festivals
Review
One of my favourite moments of the cinema-going experience this year happened before Fucktoys had even started.
As audience members cautiously approached the ticket check, each quietly mumbling that they were here for Screen 6, the attendant responded at full volume: "SCREEN 6 FOR FUCKTOYS IS OPEN!"
I laughed far more than was reasonable.
In hindsight, it was probably the perfect introduction to Annapurna Sriram's gloriously chaotic film.
The truth is, I'm still not entirely sure what I watched.
Fucktoys feels like someone took the energy of Anora, dipped it in pastel paint, pushed it through a fever dream, and then turned the weirdness dial up several notches. It's wild, messy, colourful, funny, occasionally baffling, and somehow completely compelling throughout.
Written, directed by, and starring Annapurna Sriram, this is very much a singular vision. I'll admit that when I see someone credited with writing, directing and leading a film, I sometimes worry that the result will lean towards self-indulgence. Here, though, it feels like the exact opposite. Every strange detour, every bizarre encounter and every creative choice feels intentionally part of the world Sriram is building. Whether or not I always understood where the film was taking me, I never doubted that it knew exactly where it wanted to go.
Sriram stars as AP, a woman desperately trying to free herself from a curse hanging over her life. What follows is a bizarre odyssey through a world populated by memorable characters, unexpected encounters and enough oddities to leave you questioning reality on more than one occasion.
What impressed me most was how well the cast fit together. Not a single performance felt out of place. The chemistry between characters works beautifully, and every casting choice feels spot on. Particular credit goes to Damian Young, one of those actors who instantly triggers a reaction of "Oh, it's him!" despite me never being able to remember exactly where I know him from. A quick post-film IMDb dive confirmed what I suspected: he's been in absolutely everything. For me, it's mostly his television work that sticks in my memory, but once again he proves himself to be one of those reliably excellent performers who can elevate any project they appear in.
The opening sequence deserves a mention too. The film launches itself with enough content warnings to scare off a sizeable portion of the audience before they've properly settled into their seats. I can easily imagine some viewers deciding within the first few minutes that this simply isn't for them. And that's fair enough. But I think they'd be missing out. While the film absolutely maintains that provocative tone throughout, it never feels shocking purely for the sake of it. Every encounter and every bizarre situation pushes AP's journey forward, with each stop along the way adding another piece to the puzzle.
By the end, I was left somewhere between confused, amused, and oddly impressed.
Fucktoys is one of those films that feels impossible to recommend with a straight face. It's weird. Very weird. But it's also inventive, committed to its vision, and unlike pretty much anything else I've seen recently.
It's a wild ride from start to finish.
It almost feels wrong to say I enjoyed Fucktoys.
But that won't stop me.
I enjoyed Fucktoys.
What you should do
If it releases anywhere and you want to completely disassociate from the real world for a while... give it a watch!
Movie thing you wish you could take home
That moped... It's probably the only safe thing to choose.
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