To Dust

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🎙️ EPISODE 654: 02.28.23 A quaint if not forgettable dramedy (it's more drama, but the latter of the portmanteau's notes are unmissable) about a Hasidic Jew who tasks Matthew Broderick (a community college science professor) with the impossible task of helping him grieve for his wife who has recently died of cancer. Specifically, he can't seem to process the fact that it takes a body so long to decompose. And he is certain that her soul and his won't be able to rest until it does. So they embark on an experiment to steal, kill and bury a pig, exhuming the corpse at various stages to check on the progress. It's an admirably original premise with real emotional weight, but ultimately gets bogged down by the absurdity of it all. We never get to know Broderick's character well enough to comprehend why he would be compelled to help this stranger to such a degree. (Being divorced and listening to Jethro Tull isn't enough.)

But, all things considered, there's more good here than bad. In spite of some editing hiccups, it has a real visual style (see the claymation "dead toe flower" below). In a sea of bad film, boring retreads and unoriginal garbage, one has to give credit where credit is due, and To Dust manages to standout, regardless of how many people actually ever see it.

CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 653 - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 655 ⫸

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To Dust is a 2018 American comedy-drama film directed by Shawn Snyder and starring Géza Röhrig and Matthew Broderick, Leo Heller and Sammy Voit. It was produced by Emily Mortimer, Alessandro Nivola and Ron Perlman. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival followed by screenings at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and the Hamptons International Film Festival. It was released on April 22, 2018.