If genre done with a vintage, old school style is your thing, then director Peter Strickland needs to be on your radar if he isn’t already. The filmmaker behind giallo-esque Berberian Sound Studio, In Fabric, and The Duke of Bergundy is back with Flux Gourmet, which applies Strickland’s unique style to the culinary world.
The film stars Asa Butterfield (Sex Education, Ender’s Game) and Game of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie, along with Harry Potter actor Richard Bremmer, Ariane Labed (The Souvenir), and In Fabric breakout Fatma Mohamed. It’s set at an institute devoted to culinary and alimentary performance, where a sonic collective deal with various rivalries, power struggles, and stomach issues.
Here’s the synopsis: A sonic collective who can’t decide on a name takes up a residency at an institute devoted to culinary and alimentary performance. The members Elle di Elle, Billy Rubin and Lamina Propria are caught up in their own power struggles, only their dysfunctional dynamic is furthermore exacerbated when they have to answer to the institute’s head, Jan Stevens. With the various rivalries unfolding, Stones, the Institute’s ‘dossierge’ has to privately endure increasingly fraught stomach problems whilst documenting the collective’s activities.
Upon hearing of Stones’s visits to the gastroenterologist, Dr Glock, Elle coerces him into her performances in a desperate bid for authenticity. The reluctant Stones puts up with the collective’s plans to use his condition for their art whilst Jan Stevens goes to war with Elle over creative differences.
IFC Midnight will release Flux Gourmet this summer.
