Stanleyville – A Decent Yet Ridiculous Indie Satire

Not all films are for everyone and that’s okay as their wide-ranging appeal is what makes them so great. There are certain films that are much more enjoyable whenever audiences get what they are trying to do while those who don’t obviously will not quite feel the same way. Satire is a subgenre that often falls in that category. When it comes to Stanleyville, it is a satirical indie comedy that will more than likely be too out there for some. It is admittedly ridiculous seemingly for the sake of being ridiculous while also full of borderline insufferable characters but it somehow still somewhat works in spite of all of that. Though it may not appear to be the case over the course of its sub 90 minute running time that there is a point to any of it, the film does fine one in highlighting the lengths that its ridiculous characters with even more ridiculous names are willing to go in order to find a purpose. Whether or not audiences will be willing to go on that journey isn’t necessarily a sure thing.

Stanleyville follows a woman named Maria (Wuest) whose hit ruts with both her professional and personal lives, finding herself chosen to compete in a prestigious contest against four other individuals for a new compact SUV. However, things just got weirder from there. In what was a social experiment of sorts, Maria alongside Felicie Arkady (Ricketts), Andrew Frisbee, Jr. (Serritiello), Bofill Pancreas (George Tchortov), and Manny Jumpcannon (Adam Brown), competed in increasingly ridiculous challenges over eight rounds where the winner of the most rounds won the SUV. Ultimately, it’s probably not the best to think about the why of it all too much as it will be a pointless exercise. All going into the contest for their own reasons, the five competitors took things very seriously but it soon became clear that it was about more than just a car though it’s best to not think too much about that either. The film was about the contrast of personalities as they played off of one another as they devolved under the pressure of the contest which wasn’t really one.

Suffice it to say that Stanleyville lives or dies based on the ability of audiences to get behind the film’s characters. They will test some as the film takes some time to get going. It truly thrives in the chaos and is much more interesting once things get crazy. In spite of those indecipherable parts, it was still kind of compelling to watch and occasionally funny though hard to care in the end. Meanwhile, the abrupt and open-ended ending essentially sealed that fate. When it came to the performances, they at least helped to keep the film watchable. Though the characters were more than likely written to be intentionally insufferable for the sake of satire, but some may not see it that way, they were decent across the board. While Wuest was okay as Maria, Ricketts as Arkady, Serritiello as Frisbee, Jr., Tchortov as Pancreas, and Brown as Jumpcannon had their moments.

Stanleyville won’t be for everyone, not that it had to be, but fans of quirky satire should find enough here.

still courtesy of levelFilm

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.