Jake and Louise
have only been together for six weeks, but she is already, a little reluctantly, accompanying them to his parents' house in the country.
During the drive, Woodsworth, Wyeth and Tolstoy, film criticism and political correctness are discussed.
There is also an in-depth discussion of John Cassavete's drama A Woman Under the Influence and also the old earring Baby, it's cold outside, which in today's social and political context is considered a song about sexual abuse.
The cultural references flow in the rolling tin box, allowing the couple to avoid the elephant in the back seat;
their relationship, which already feels watered down.
In any case, if you ask Louise, and it is precisely through her fleeing character that we see (and hear, here lies much of the text inside her head) the story unfolds.
Charlie Kaufman
is one of America's most stubborn filmmakers.
A comic surrealist whose worlds are populated by depressed, lost souls who question both the state of affairs and their own life choices.
Ponderers and seekers, far from the goal-oriented character of the middle-aged film.
And the playing field is always the relaxed psyche.
His pen has created contemporary classics such as In the Head of John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the glorious metacrumel adaptation, but when he also takes on the role of director, it can get a little tricky, as in snarky Synecdoche, New York.
It's like his bushy psyche is best interpreted by another filmmaker - but it must not be a square soul, but a sensitive director (like Michel Gondry or Spike Jonze) who can dump Kaufman's mischievous seeds into thoughts.
But here he has
still got it.
Okay, it's not as solid a relationship drama as Eternal… there is a longing here, but still stimulating in all its lugubrious appearance.
But what are we seeing?
A moloken romcom or a psyche on the verge of collapse?
Both.
Something as unusual as a philosophical comedy.
It is about the floating framework of the I-concept.
An Ingmar Bergman's Persona in a new postmodern and twisted suit.
So no easy match for actors Jessie Buckley (Beast) and Philip Seymour Hoffman's heir Jesse Plemons, but they carry the snarky dialogue as a cherished burden.
The scenes with the in-laws - Toni Collette and David Thewlis - are absolutely brilliant, and nasty, at the same time.
It probably takes
at least one more look to be able to grasp everything.
Yes, much like Christopher Nolan's Tenet, but still completely different.
It was about time and logistics, who did what and in what order.
More elaborate than enigmatic.
Here the opposite is true, the broken chronology does not need to be put in order, instead one can devote oneself to trying to absorb all the mind-expanding impressions and peculiar twists.
In short, Charlie Kaufman is wreaking havoc on our brains, and I like that.
Premiere on Netflix September 4