CINEMA
SOLVENT (2024)
MPAA: NR.
Release Date: ../../.. [Festival Run]
Genre: Drama. Horror. Mystery.
[Seen at Nightmares Film Festival 2024]
"While searching for Nazi documents in an Austrian farmhouse, a team of experts uncovers a hidden secret buried in its bowels. American expatriate Gunner S. Holbrook becomes obsessed with solving the mystery, and as his sanity wanes, he must confront an insatiable evil. Can he find redemption before it drains the life out of him?"
OUR MOVIE REVIEW:
Johannes Grenzfurthner’s Solvent is a wild escapade to hell and back, delivering one of the most shocking features in a year full of shock value. Shot in a found footage fashion, with a strapped GoPro and inspection scope type of cameras, the film gives a bizarre first person experience as we witness a possession like no other.
The story revolves around an American expatriate, Gunner S. Holbrook who during a search for hidden Nazi documents possibly left behind by wealthy mogul Ernst Bartholdi’s grandfather is entranced by the mystery of a random pipeline into the hidden depths beneath.
The film is a ticking time bomb of chaos, the first act is an intriguing search for these missing documents with a team of intriguing characters. After an incident occurs with the team, the second and especially third has a cargo load of chaos that simply derails any sense of sanity: full of screaming, bodily fluids and claustrophobia.
While I really loved the performances and the insanity several brought to the roles, the one that felt detached from the experience was the voice behind the scenes. Jon Gries plays Gunner, most well known for his role as Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite, and his portrayal of the character is a tad too monotone and calm for someone experiencing what they are. His level-headedness seemingly disregards the insanity of what’s going on around them.
Aleksandra Cwen’s Krystyna is the first of the team to encounter what the pipe has to offer and her descent into insanity is swift. Krystyna comes off as a scholar and professional, ashamed of whom they are sharing the same space with on their search. After her run-in with the pipe, she devolves into a screaming, crying maniac spouting nonsense and warnings to our lead.
Roland Gratzer’s Fredi, the slightly protective neighbor with a soft spot for gifting cookies, transcends from an eerie threat to a comedic presence that shines with every appearance. Grenzfurthner’s Ernest brings some chaotic levity of his own to the film, as his persona alters throughout the feature, his unexpected energy he brings to the table is oddly delightful. Every time Ernest appears on screen it’s a wonderful surprise as he brings some turmoil into the occasional calm.
Everyone who witnesses Solvent should come out of it with a slightly different opinion, it's so off the walls that it seems almost impossible for everything within to work in the same fashion for each viewer. Johannes Grenzfurthner and Benjamin Robert’s script is crude, dark and willing to go to some relatively disturbing places. Beyond the known facts left by the premise, it’s best to dive head first into the mystery of Solvent with no knowledge of what lurks beneath.