The short version of this review is that Attack of The Adult Babies is the most unexpected, disgusting, brilliant, hilarious and through-provoking film you might see all year.
You could stop reading here and find out where you can go see it – I recommend this course of action.
Or you could read on for context.
Dominic Brunt (director of Before Dawn and Bait, and famous for his role in Emmerdale – yes really!) has created a satirical, schlock-horror that destroys numerous genres, the concepts of moral decency and the perverse power of the ruling elites in one hack-handed swoop.
The story, created by Joanne Mitchell (who also has a fantastic turn in the movie) and padded out by scriptwriter Paul Shrimpton, follows some fairly basic heist, road-movie and horror narrative ideas but the manner in which it all unfolds is never what you’d expect and takes the viewer on a laugh-riot, journey of emotion and questions.
Two teenagers sneak into a mansion to steal some top-secret files but find a base of operations for a group of rich, powerful men who relieve stress by dressing as babies and enacting strange nappy-based fantasies with a group of fetishized nurses employed to satisfy them. Things go south very quickly, and there’s something strange in the basement. This is the plot, but it is also nowhere near the entire plot.
A spate of fantastic performances offset the absurdity of the humour and violence (of which there is some ridiculously gory moments) with a human element that brings the audience further in on the joke.
Beautifully shot, tightly edited and a visual delight this is a small, silly movie with big production values and film-making skill.
There’s even some inexplicable and insane stop-motion Claymation for good measure.
Although, much of the film is carried on awkward situations, Benny Hill on acid raunch and comedy gore, at the heart of the movie are clear messages about the perversity of power and the financial elites, as well as an obvious swipe at the outdated perversity of the male gaze. There are some very modern, liberal ideas hiding in amidst the B-movie madness.
Whilst there is a fair share of toilet humour (‘poo’ is a key plot point) there are also moments of slow burning comedy that would rightly belong in the most revered of comedy gems. Everything on screen here is a contradiction.
Attack of The Adult Babies is the cleverest, stupid movie you will have seen in a long time.
Go to see this movie with no expectations, leave you moral judgement at the door and open your mind to the sick wonders that will unfold. You won’t regret it.
Find more on Derby Film Festival and buy tickets at their:
Website: www.derbyfilmfestival.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheDerbyFilmFestival
Twitter: www.twitter.com/derbyfilmfest
