
Time passes slowly at the castle in the Slovak town of Stupava. It is, in effect, the local old people’s home, but it also serves as a refuge for others ‘who have lost everything’. The inhabitants (or ‘exhibits’ – since most castles house art galleries) range from an athletic old man in a speedy wheelchair to a philosopher with a taste for neologisms, a lawyer known as ‘the Classic’, a woman who has seen aliens, and the taciturn Liduška, who collects pigeon feathers. Director Pavol Korec has compiled an attractive mosaic of characters who, despite past tragedies, exhibit an enthusiasm for life whatever the constraints. Intelligent use of image and music lift this above the conventional documentary record. Unusual, affectionate, and subtle, the film provides a light-hearted testament and commitment to life as a value independent of neo-capitalist convention.
Ever since the mid-’90s, the Mortal Kombat game franchise has seen multiple attempts to make it on the big screen, or at least adapted into other media.
Spoiler Warning
Overall, Matthias & Maxime doesn't reinvent this romantic concept. But it also doesn't need to. Dolan weaves a story of love, friendship, and life that is both realistic and bittersweet. The film is nuanced and sensual in a way we don't get to see often with LGBTQ characters. It's a film that we can celebrate.