Stanleyville
Directed by Maxwell McCabe-Lokos
Written by Rob Benvie, Maxwell McCabe-Lokos
Starring Susanne Wuest, Cara Ricketts, Adam Brown
Release Date April 22nd, 2022
Stanleyville is a strange dark comedy that I imagine will get better on a second viewing. I say that because the movie is dense and strange and yet it contains riches that I imagine I might uncover with another viewing. Stanleyville is the feature length debut from director Maxwell McCabe Lokos and it is a statement of weird and fascinating purpose. Set in one location and proceeding in the fashion of Squid Game, a series of games that may or may not kill the participants, the film maintains a strangely light tone amid the potential for death at any moment.
Stanleyville begins from a very intriguing place. A wife and mother, Maria (Susanne Wuest), has wandered off from her family in a daze. Desperately bored of her life as it is, Maria is immediately receptive when she’s approached by a strange man calling himself Homunculus (Julian Richings) who tells her that she’s been chosen for a life changing, transcendent competition that is set to reveal her true purpose. Why was she chosen? How was she chosen for something she’d never applied for? Maria doesn’t care, she’s all in to get out of her current state of ennui.
Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here.
