# WTF / penis / electronic penis / time travel / ants / Quentin Dupieux / suburbs / eternal youth / pathological property development / grotesque / cinema exclusive
INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE
comedy, drama, fantasy / France, Belgium / 2022 / 1h 14 min
The director of “Rubber” and “Deerskin” has done it again
Alain and Marie are a rather dull and experienced couple. He has problems with erections (and a boss that has just implanted himself with a phone-controlled, electronic penis), and she – an obsession with her passing beauty. Their life turns upside down when they buy their dream house in the suburbs. There’s obviously a catch. As it turns out, the small print will change their life forever. And when they finally learn the truth about their new home (especially its basement), nothing will be the same anymore.
Lonely Alain starts questioning his masculinity, and Marie has a meltdown that can endanger their marriage. Somewhere in the background, there is the electronic penis failure, questions about what it means to be a man, and some more arcs that also make the film a story about a midlife crisis, masculinity, marital problems, and obsessions that consume the modern world. And about the dark side of the real estate market, personified by the real estate agent – inconspicuous but sly as a fox.
All of that is served with a thick layer of grotesque and lined with sadness. Because even long relationships can be a miss. And even though ‘Incredible But True’ tells its story in a comical way, there’s a hint of sadness.
The person responsible for this original mix is Quentin Dupieux, one of the most original filmmakers. It’s not his first rodeo at the Splat!FilmFest – last year, at the festival, his excellent ‘Mandibules’ was featured (about two not-too-complicated guys who find a gigantic fly in the trunk of a car), and before that – ‘Deerskin’ (about a certain leather jacket that took control over its owner) or ‘Keep an Eye Out.’ He got famous as far as 2010 when he gave us ‘Rubber’, a film that truly needs no other introduction.
‘Incredible But True’ had its premiere at this year’s Berlinale and the ‘Guardian’ was wondering why it’s more pleasant to watch than other premieres, even from more established names. All the while Dupioux is quite a known person in the world of cinema. After watching ‘Incredible But True,’ it’s impossible not to wonder in what original way he will surprise us next year.
