For his latest psychological trip, British writer-director and Festival favourite Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio, The Duke of Burgundy, In Fabric) brings darkly comic weirdness to a culinary institute. Here, the dysfunctional dynamic between three performance artists in residence (Fatma Mohamed, Asa Butterfield, and Ariane Labed) is exacerbated when they have to answer to the institute’s director (Gwendoline Christie). Meanwhile, the activities of these “sonic caterers” — they amplify strange sounds from food and appliances — are documented by a writer (Makis Papadimitriou) who is privately fraught by stomach problems. Elle (Mohamed) learns of his visits to the gastroenterologist, Dr. Glock (Richard Bremmer), and, in a desperate bid for authenticity, coerces him into participating in her performances.
Within this trademark, vividly oddball fantasia, Strickland tells an oddly relatable story exploring, as he describes it, problems people are often too embarrassed to talk about — along with creative conflict, rejection, power, and the dilemmas facing both artists and their patrons.