There are many differences that divide us as a global population, but it is actually likely going to be the elements that unite us that will be most widely studied in the future since the concepts that bind us together under a singular sense of homogeneity tend to be the most interesting when looking at the human condition as a whole. One quality in particular is our shared hubris – nearly every one of us believes that we are the most important person in existence and that everything revolves around our lives, the exception being the small group of individuals who have achieved enlightenment and realized there is more to humanity than just our pithy existence. This brief introduction to existential philosophy is designed to set the stage for a discussion on Stress Positions, the directorial debut of Theda Hammel, who tells a brilliantly subversive story centred on the occupants of a relatively non-descript Brooklyn brownstone building, including a pernickety gay man currently going through the early stages of a divorce from his philandering husband, which is only complicated by the arrival of his Moroccan nephew, who spends time recovering from a broken leg in the basement of the tenenement, and thus becomes a source of considerable fascination by the locals, particularly the protagonist’s best friend and mortal enemy, who is going through her own set of challenges with her girlfriend, a struggling author who recently earned a burst of acclaim and success with a book that she based on her partner and her gender transition, which continues to be quite a contentious point within her closest circle. A wildly entertaining and profoundly strange film that veers towards the absurd on several occasions, Stress Positions is one of the year’s most fascinating achievements and a debut that will likely go down in history as one of the most daring and ambitious, both in terms of style and substance, both of which are easily mastered by Hammel and her clear skills as a natural-born filmmaker. A work that only comes about through the genuine skillfulness that emerges with such a disquieting story, the film is extraordinarily captivating and bizarre in ways that even the most curious of viewers will not quite comprehend, its a masterpiece of off-kilter storytelling, and a major achievement of contemporary independent filmmaking.

One of the characteristics that we’ve seen erode as a legitimate form of artistic expression is outright hostility. Very rarely do we find films that are anxious to unnerve and stir controversy in a way that doesn’t even attempt to play devil’s advocate or present itself as some alternative account of a particular subject, but rather are just truly mean-spirited and cruel. Naturally, it’s not an easy achievement, but it is one that can be absolutely magnificent when done well since there’s nothing quite as fascinating as a work of art designed to provoke discord amongst the audience. Stress Positions is a glorious return to this form of savage, uncouth storytelling, and one that clearly was never designed with the comfort of the viewer in mind, which may seem like a criticism, but under Hammel’s profoundly entertaining direction, it becomes a major merit to an already terrific story. This film is an off-the-wall examination of the lives of a group of despicable people who are only connected to each other out of routine, clearly having very little fondness for their friends and family, and actively trying to push them away, albeit not far enough that they are too far out of reach for when they’re required – because as we can all confirm, in a time of crisis, your worst enemy can become your best friend if they possess the skills to get you out of a particular situation. The director crafts the film as a bold comedy-of-errors in which absolutely nothing seems to go right – the plot revolves mainly around a Fourth of July barbecue, a simple excursion into Americana, but which becomes delightfully derailed after a series of misfortunes befall the main characters, which turns an already tense event into pure anarchy. Stress Positions takes place in a chaotic version of reality, focusing on evoking a sense of the carnivalesque, particularly in its outright refusal to justify these characters’ behaviour or a clear sense of disdain for the simple act of being alive. We get the impression that all of these people feel restricted in a very particular kind of existential ennui, one in which they lead lives that are technically comfortable from a financial and domestic standpoint, but made unbearable by their own inflated sense of self-importance and outright refusal to be anything other than selfish, cruel individuals who only have their interests at heart when it comes to making decisions in their day-to-day lives.

This is not the kind of upbeat, warm comedy about friendship and navigating the challenges of day-to-day life, but rather a harsh and callous satire that is filled to the brim with the most uncomfortable sense of vitriol, a lot of which is aimed towards the main characters, which creates a vivid and unsettling portrait of a self-centred generation, one that is as scathing and unnerving as it is outrageously funny. The primary reason the film doesn’t become entirely disconcerting is because Hammel works with a group of actors that entirely understand the tone, and are able to navigate the razor-thin boundary between playfully misanthropic and outright despicable. The film focuses on a group of characters, all of which exist somewhere on the spectrum of queerness, and who are all struggling to navigate their own identities, their insecurities being concealed under thick layers of sarcasm and vitriol, which manifests in their interactions with those around them. The film makes use of an ensemble cast, with the primary roles of Terry Goon (a truly great character name) being played by the outrageously funny John Early, whose dedication to this role is beyond description – had Buster Keaton been a self-centred queer millennial with severe delusions of grandeur and a penchant for always getting into trouble, it would look something like this performance, particularly in how he is willing to embrace the off-the-wall slapstick that occurs throughout the film. Qaher Harhash makes his acting debut as the young, enigmatic model whose identity is still under debate (and yet the fact that various characters choose to use him as a sounding board on which to explore their own queerness is fascinating), and who is essentially the catalyst for most of the hilarious chaos that ensues throughout the film. Hammel herself occupies one of the main roles, and she proves to be just as incredible in front of the camera as she is behind it, turning in such a complex and sardonic performance that both grounds the film and makes it incredibly memorable, as does Rebecca F. Wright, whose almost entirely silent performance is equal parts hilarious and unsettling, particularly in how she seems to be plucked directly from a different world entirely. Smaller performances by John Roberts and Amy Zimmer, who are both excellent as the de facto antagonists (insofar as they challenge the main characters to reconsider their identity and desires), round out the cast and bring many of the underlying themes and concepts at the heart of Stress Positions to life, which is done with such vigour and distinctly offbeat energy.

However, there is certainly a method to the madness that governs Stress Positions, which is a film that is saying much more than it seems to be on the surface, and once we peer beneath the layers of harsh, darkly comical social satire, we discover that this is quite a daring film in terms of its underlying message. The central narrative revolves around human connections, particularly between friends and family, exploring the contentious and challenging relationship many of us have with those who exist within our circle, whether they have been chosen to be placed there or are there as a result of familial roots. However, it is not the very simple premise (which is wickedly entertaining and the source of most of the humour, but which also can only achieve so much before the novelty wears off and it becomes tedious) that gives the film its unique worldview, but rather how it builds from these ideas to create something more intriguing. Hammel’s political views are intentionally kept ambigious, at least in terms of how they inform this film, which is a brutal and scathing deconstruction of contemporary liberalism, the armchair activism that has allowed an entire generation to build their entire personality and inventory of opinions on the desire to be outraged by anything that they feel is an injustice, even those that exist outside the realm of subjects on which they are qualified to speak, but which they still intend to showcase as their supposed right as members of the queer community. The film consists of about half a dozen outcasts and misfits emerging from various marginalized groups, each one arriving at the story with an inflated sense of confidence and a complete lack of self-awareness, which Hammel gradually deconstructs as she explores their inner psyches, leading to quite an unnerving final act when the entire film descends into chaos. We find them sinking deeper into a state of psychological angst as time progresses and they begin to realize they are in a nightmarish, cyclical hellscape, and the futility of existence begins to erode at their sanity. It’s not nearly as dense as this description would suggest, but there are ideas embedded in this film that are profoundly challenging, and it only makes Stress Positions richer and far more interesting as a result.

Referring to anyone as the future of filmmaking has always seemed to be quite an overstatement and one that rarely is rooted in anything other than hyperbole. Yet, watching a film like Stress Positions confirms that this excitement and enthusiasm can be authentic on occasion, particularly from someone who makes their debut with such a daring, fully-formed work of unhinged artistry. Enticing and repulsive in equal measure, and as wickedly funny as it is genuinely disorientating at the best of moments, this film is a brilliantly inventive journey into the mind of a few queer people as they navigate their identities and try to come to terms with the hostile world that surrounds them. Those who are easily offended may find Hammel’s approach to these ideas quite difficult since she is not afraid to have frank conversations, which involve courting controversy – but there is a purpose to this kind of provocative storytelling, which involves understanding exactly what it is that makes these ideas so incredibly appealing to those who have a penchant for this kind of challenging, off-kilter satire, one that doesn’t give us the answers (or even asks the questions in anything other than a roundabout, unconventional manner), but rather focuses on providing an episodic glimpse into the lives of these characters. You would think that Stress Positions heighten the absurdity to the point where people such as these characters could not feasibly exist – but it is quite clear that this film is steeped heavily within reality, crafting characters that are far more realistic than we would be ready to admit. Strange and uncomfortable, and also deeply funny in a way that dares us to reconsider everything we know to be true,this film is an immense achievement, an irreverent and shocking satire that oscillates between outrageous slapstick and the bleakest, disconcerting dark comedy imaginable, playfully subverting genre and presenting itself as a truly unorthodox piece of filmmaking, and a daring debut by someone who is undoubtedly a singular voice in contemporary cinema.