Movie Review: Apocalypse Clowns (2023)
Everybody has an opinion about clowns. A whimsical delight. Terrifying creatures of nightmare. I didn’t trust them even before I read Stephen King’s It. But they aren’t the only ones to look out for. There are Mimes, Harlequins, Jesters, and least trustworthy, Jokers. In Shakes the Clown, Bobcat Goldthwaite showed us how terribly clowns and mimes get along, but I never even considered how vengeful Living Statues can be. There are a number of clowns in this movie, and even the ones in face paint are by turns demented, pathetic, obsessive, foolish, and dangerous.
Filmed in Ireland, Apocalypse Clowns takes a hilarious premise and turns it into the darkest comedy I’ve seen in a long time. When a sudden disaster isolates everyone from their usual electronic routines, people panic and quickly devolve into a zombie-like state that sweeps like an infection through the countryside. We are then left in the company of clowns and clown-adjacents.
The clowns have many things in common, including that they take their professions seriously. That doesn’t make them like each other, though. Whether fate or face paint has thrown them together, Bobo, Funzo, and Pepe must conquer their personal demons to save the world. Along the way, clever metaphors for our modern society tweak the film’s message brilliantly.
David Earl eloquently portrays Bobo as a former dreamer whose disappointments have turned him coarse and jaded. Natalie Palomides’ petite physicality makes Funzo a fun-sized demon from hell, yet she remains somehow vulnerable and appealing. Fionn Foley as Pepe is timid, silly, and sweetly loyal to their strange group’s slapped-together bonding.
I enthusiastically recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a bit of satire in their comedy. There’s foul language and violence, but I’m not sure you’d want little kids exposed to clowns anyway!
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