Cadaver (2020)
October 24, 2020 9:53 AM - Subscribe

Amidst starvation and devastation in post-apocalyptic Norway, a couple and their daughter are invited to a mysterious theatrical performance at a local hotel.

Once inside the hotel, the audience is informed the entire hotel is the stage. The audience is given masks and instructed that the actors are anyone not wearing a mask. They are free to follow the actors they find the most compelling. (This is strikingly similar to the conceit of Sleep No More in NYC.)

Leo and Jacob, accompanied by their young daughter, Alice embark on what seems to be fantastic experience only to discover that the hotel is filled with very dark secrets.
posted by miss-lapin (6 comments total)
 
While the plot seems obvious, the movie takes a more philosophical approach to what do you when faced with terrible choices to survive? How dangerous can optimism be in such a world?
posted by miss-lapin at 9:55 AM on October 24, 2020


It was basically what I expected, but the end result was better than what I expected so that's nice. One problem I have is that I can't get over the practicality of it. I mean you would have to retrofit the huge hotel, find a bunch of people to go along with it, somehow convince people not to take off their masks, keep them from basically touching anything... I mean it would be easier to just snatch people off the street and cannibalize them. Also, there were like 50 guests in each show. What are they going to do with a hundred people worth of meat? I know they are starving so probably don't have much on them but gristle, but still it seems like a smaller scale operation would be both more efficient and less likely to break down. And now that I have earnestly discussed the merits of bespoke cannibalism, I think it is time for me to turn off the internet for the day.
posted by Literaryhero at 7:39 AM on October 26, 2020 [2 favorites]


I found the question of where they would find, say, intact uniforms for the entire wait staff (plus extras for those who join) also an issue. There are a lot of issues like in the film but this is the writer/director's first film so I'm willing to be more forgiving about such things.
posted by miss-lapin at 9:19 AM on October 26, 2020


so probably don't have much on them but gristle

Soup or stew.
posted by rozcakj at 2:06 PM on October 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


One side point would be during the dinner portion for the disguised staff eating at the tables to figure out who has useful skills and perhaps try and guide them away from death. Butchers, chefs, and tailors would be the most obviously useful people to draft instead of just hoping the least curious also have skills.

Maybe the writer should have workshopped this with us.
posted by miss-lapin at 2:50 PM on October 26, 2020


I forgot to add this is now streaming on Netflix.
posted by miss-lapin at 9:17 PM on November 2, 2020


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