Flux Gourmet 2022

“Absurdity is serious business in the films of Peter Strickland. The self-contained worlds in which his pictures unfold have always functioned according to their own singular, straight-faced logic and laws, guided by the twin forces of eccentricity and perversity. But even so, Flux Gourmet – an account of a month-long artistic residence by a collective of sonic caterers (no, really) – is a particular triumph. The funniest of his films to date, it’s a fully realised, immaculately tailored creation which conceals a slow-burning sense of mischief under its deliberate oddness and ornately deadpan dialogue.

Combining the aural obsession of Berberian Sound Studio with the exploratory psychosexual-kink rituals of The Duke Of Burgundy (NZIFF 2015), and nodding to the ominous power of fashion espoused by In Fabric (NZIFF2019), Flux Gourmet feels like a culmination of Strickland’s fascinations and themes to date. More so, when you learn that the director himself broke down the barriers between the edible and the audible as a member of The Sonic Catering Band, which created electronic music from the sound of cooking and preparing ingredients… With its delicious comic savagery and a magnificently bonkers, full-bore performance from Gwendoline Christie… the film’s unique personality comes from its meticulous design, in everything from costume to sound.” — Wendy Ide, Screendaily