The Nest

James Fotopoulos’ reign over urban shadow life continues with his latest feature THE NEST, in which a couple must face tough consequences in a preternatural suburbia. The disturbing film is told in what amounts to three subdivisions. First, we are deeply immersed in the day-to-day life of a white couple living an extremely homogenous lifestyle. Second, we learn about the incident: they ran over something; the government was involved; now, agents are drugging them and conducting dream tests. Third is the comeuppance. Fotopoulos’ exacting cinematic style pelts the suit-and-tie couple with acid and steel as creeps from the forest secretly torture the pair.

Few young filmmakers working today have been as prolific as Fotopoulos or had such a giddily perplexing effect on audiences, critics and festival programmers while building a rabid cult following. Comparisons to early Lynch, Cronenberg and no-budget horror mavens get close, but they present expectations that aren’t fair to one with Fotopoulos’ unique style. Too raw and uncompromising for university professors, too existential for trash film fans, Fotopoulos ignores trends and analysis and instead relishes in what means he has available. You would never make a big budget this way, but you would never make THE NEST any other way.