Berlinale: "Manodrome", the vulnerability of modern men

Jesse Eisenberg in “Manodrome”, by South African John Trengove, presented at the Berlinale 2023. © Berlinale 2023

Text by: Sophie Torlotin Follow

1 min

19 films are in competition for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale.

An awaited film with American stars was presented this weekend: "Manodrome", by South African John Trengove.

A psychological thriller that tackles the issue of toxic masculinity head-on.

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How to be a man when traditional representations of virility are challenged?

The South African director John Trengove has been working on this theme since his first feature film,

, on a story of taboo homosexuality during an initiation ritual.

He continues this exploration with

, a film shot in the United States with American stars Adrian Brody and Jesse Eisenberg.

Jesse Einsenberg plays Ralphie, a young Uber driver in full questioning: he is going to be a father, sculpts his body in a gym and is fascinated and troubled by bodybuilders.

This lost young man will be introduced into a community of men led by a kind of guru who encourages them to reaffirm their masculinity.

The vulnerability of modern men, toxic masculinity, is one of the themes of this 73rd Berlinale, frontal in

, but also present in other films in the competition: Blackberry, which takes place in a tech environment almost exclusively masculine,

which follows a member of the Foreign Legion, or the Chinese film

.

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