The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Sundance Film Festival 2021

Mother Schmuckers (Fils de plouc)

Sundance 2021: Mother Schmuckers (Fils de plouc) | Review
3 February 2021
Oliver Johnston
Avatar
Oliver Johnston
3 February 2021

Movie and show review

Oliver Johnston

Mother Schmuckers (Fils de plouc)

★★★★★

Links

InstagramFacebook

Mother Schmuckers attempts to present its gross-out comedy credentials from the offset. Within the film’s first two minutes, one of the story’s hapless protagonists samples the taste of cooked dog crap, in a presumed homage to John Waters’ Pink Flamingos. Gross-out? Check. Comedy? Well – they probably did their best, but there’s only a finite amount of enjoyment that can be wrung out of people’s genitals (and various other body parts) being subjected to unfortunate accidents. 

Issachar (Maxi Delmelle) and Zabulon (Harpo Guit, also the movie’s co-director) are two brothers living in a cramped flat in Brussels with their mother Cachemire (Claire Bodson). When they lose her beloved dog (although it’s more that they tied him up somewhere and forgot about it), they must get him back or face the consequences. However, the repercussions couldn’t be any worse than their current redundant existence.

The key issue with Mother Schmuckers is that Issachar and Zabulon have about as much charm as the aforementioned dog crap. While audiences might be waiting for some explanation as to their absurd, destructive ways (perhaps an undiagnosed antisocial personality disorder?), all that’s offered is that they are simply morons. There could conceivably be some amusement to be had from watching the pair barrelling from one set piece to another, culminating in something that could charitably be described as a plot, but the entire matter becomes grating rather quickly. There’s also the fact that the film appears to have been shot on a camcorder while someone idly played with the zoom function.

Had the feature reigned in its most outlandish impulses, it could have had more focus, and indeed, more laughs. There really is no method to the madness. There are a couple of random chuckles to be had, but this is more of a numbers game – if the filmmakers throw enough dog crap at the wall, some of it will stick.

★★★★★

Oliver Johnston

Mother Schmuckers (Fils de plouc) does not have a UK release date yet.

For further information about Sundance Film Festival 2021 visit here.

Read more reviews from the festival here.

Watch the trailer for Mother Schmuckers (Fils de plouc) here:

Related Itemsreview

More in Film festivals

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

“I think I’m kind of a drug addict for image and sound coming together! I’m always putting images to sound and getting high”: An interview with Hlynur Pálmason, director of Godland

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Watcher

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

Resurrection

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

Sharp Stick

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

Leyla’s Brothers: An interview with Saeed Roustayi

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Plan 75: An interview with director Chie Hayakawa

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Falcon Lake: An interview with director Charlotte Le Bon

Selina Sondermann
Read More

“How to make a genuine portrait of life”: An interview with the stars of Leila’s Brothers

Selina Sondermann
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Oliver Johnston

Mother Schmuckers (Fils de plouc)

★★★★★

Links

InstagramFacebook

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Africa Fashion at the V&A
    ★★★★★
    Art
  • Beauty and the Beast: The Musical at London Palladium
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • St Vincent at the Hammersmith Apollo
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Netflix Walking Tour: From Bridgerton to The Crown, a free walking tour through the filming locations
    Cinema & Tv
  • Minions: The Rise of Gru
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Viagra Boys – Cave World
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Ithaka
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Wayfinder
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Brian and Charles
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Viagra Boys – Cave World
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • The Railway Children Return
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Adele lights up Hyde Park for BST Festival
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Beauty and the Beast: The Musical at London Palladium
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Sundance 2021: Violation | Review
Judas and the Black Messiah, and the Cultural Impact of the Black Panther Party