IFFR 2021 - King Car
IFFRA bold move it may be to make a film about a boy with the power to speak to cars, King Car actually misinterprets its spectacular theme. Director Renata Pinheiro has, undoubtedly, made an engrossing oddity here, but fails to relay her inspirations of Christine and the darker comedic remnants that John Carpenter provided. Perhaps that is not the intention at all, even if it certainly feels like it. An untrustworthy car and an impressionable young adult take to the streets, but this narrative is soon dropped for something far, far less interesting.
Attempting to blur a coming-of-age, hard life backdrop and include the strange sex scenes found in David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Crash, scenes of King Car make up for a resourceful and engaging first half hour derailed by the expected tones that such an unconventional genre has. Seeking out something interesting to use as a vice or tangible underlying support, King Car loses entirely its way, shifting away from a credible narrative that discusses the hardships of family life. Instead, it focuses on the sudden moments of panic and tension, whether that be with local law enforcement or between the main characters. Whatever the case, it is not effective, while Pinheiro at least does well to rely on the leading character, who can speak to and hear automobiles.
What King Car does not unfortunately grasp is that the convincing nature of the leading man talking to cars could be explored far more than the surface value. A creepy, sinister voice is the dominant force of the various taxis and the key to unlocking this unique horror element is lost on Luciano Pedro Jr. While his performance is a solid one, it is the problems of script and style that thoroughly remove Pedro Jr. from the few hopeful moments of interest. Obvious notions rely on Pinheiro discussing the idea that the car is the subconscious of the leading character, but it never gets detailed enough to do so.
Outlandish it may be to grow up and converse with cars, King Car takes a matter-of-fact approach to this harrowing strangeness, a style that serves the first act of the running time very well indeed. Unfortunate it may be that it peters out toward the end, the direction and prime theme on offer from Pinheiro is an engaging one; it simply doesn’t have the engrossing energy to last a feature-length running time. Careful consideration for the technical merits and the casting are not enough to stop King Car swerving off the road into the ditch that is complacent, meandering nothingness. It can think of nothing else to do with its topics than to take things to the utter extremes: the far-out style neither necessary or interesting.