“George Kane’s anarchic comedy, Apocalypse Clown, follows a troupe of clowns travelling across Ireland in the aftermath of an electrical blackout.“
When I was asked to review a film called Apocalypse Clown, and based on my own history of watching really bad B-movies, I was intrigued. Then I saw the trailer and immediately demanded the chance to watch the film. I couldn’t have made a better decision. Opening with a depressing Clown getting sacked from a hospital before downing what he thinks is a jelly, only to find out it is methadone and collapsing on the way, you know you’re in for a treat. It only gets weirder from there when the world undergoes an apparent apocalypse caused by a giant solar flare.
The film follows a ragtag troupe of wildly varying clowns from the depressing Bobo (David Earl), the nervous Pepe (Fionn Foley), the Great Alphonso (Ivan Kaye), and the scary street clown Funzo (Natalie Palamides), as well as journalist Jenny Malone (Amy Debrúhn). Every single one of the characters is superb and they all add a unique layer to the story and the journey. For me though Funzo just absolutely ticked every box for me. Natalie’s performance is just brilliant, with a character that ranges from seeming innocence to apparent insanity, sometimes in the same scene. The whole cast was really well put together and none of them seemed out of place, or like they shouldn’t be there.
Director George Kane has taken a subject that simply shouldn’t work, Clowns in an Apocalypse, and made a film that not only makes that premise work but makes it work really, really well. His choices of shots and style of camera work are perfect for a film like this. To say there’s a level of realism in a film about a Clown-based apocalypse might be too much, but he makes it seem as real as possible without ever straying into a fantastical fever dream. He gives us a film with levels of pathos, and humour (I legitimately laughed out loud a lot), as well as fear and intrigue and romance. I’ll let you make your own mind up for that part, but George has done a superb job with this film.
Overall, this is single-handedly one of the most insane and bizarre things I have ever watched. It’s also incredibly brilliant, and I cannot wait for it to hit the big screen properly so I can go watch it in the best format possible.
So many aspects of this film caught me off-guard and I absolutely love it because of this… it’s getting a 4.5/5 from me, and I really hope it does as well as it deserves in the cinemas. Please, please, please go and see it…..
APOCALYPSE CLOWN was produced by Morgan Bushe and James Dean for Fastnet Films (Black47, What If) in co-production with Namesake Films and Cloé Garbay and Beata Saboova of uMedia. Ed Caffrey and Rupert Preston of Vertigo Releasing, Patrick O’Neill of Wildcard, Celine Haddad of Screen Ireland and John Gleeson and OisÃn O’Neill of BCP Asset Management serve as executive producers.
Production investment was provided by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, RTE, Section 481, Vertigo Releasing, BCP, the Belgian tax shelter and Screen Ireland.
APOCALYPSE CLOWN is now showing on Netflix.
Apocalypse Clown is incredibly brilliant
Movie title: Apocalypse Clown (2023)
Movie description: APOCALYPSE CLOWN tells the tale of a troupe of failed clowns and an ambitious reporter who embark on a chaotic adventure of self-discovery after a mysterious solar event plunges the world into anarchy.
Date published: August 21, 2023
Country: UK
Duration: 102 mins
Director(s): George Kane
Actor(s): David Earl, Natalie Palamides, Amy De Bhrún
Genre: Comedy
