Stigmata
2024 · 7m
Directed by Ben Gordon
Genres: dark comedy, experimental, mystery
Tones: absurdist, surreal, tense
A retired magician who now sells fish and aquatic supplies is visited after closing by an obsessed fan desperate to learn a forbidden spell.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Ex-magician selling fish. After-hours visitor. Forbidden spell. Seven minutes. What more do you need from a Tuesday night?
A retired magician selling aquarium supplies visited by an obsessed fan seeking a forbidden trick — the collision of mundane retail and arcane obsession is a real fever-dream premise, and Gordon's deadpan tonal control matters more than the plot.
Retired magician now selling fish supplies confronted by a fan with a DVD of his old tutorials — the collision of mundane retail with arcane obsession, plus 'jarring' performances from Grisell and Fishman. That tonal mash is the appeal.