Sergey A.'s "Nettle" is not a film for everyone. It's a chaotic, low-budget oddity that straddles the line between horror, experimental art, and unintentional comedy. Shot with the aesthetic of a home video gone rogue, this Russian underground flick is either a fascinating study of DIY filmmaking or a cinematic car crash-depending on your tolerance for the avant-garde.
The shaky camerawork and grainy visuals evoke early 2000s YouTube horror, but the lack of any coherent editing amplifies the disorientation. Scenes linger awkwardly, transitions are nonexistent, and the "horror" often feels like an inside joke.
Dialogue like, "You are vegan, don't eat meat! Do you know, that nettle is also alive." is delivered with deadpan seriousness, tipping the film into unintentional comedy. Characters argue about irrelevant details while ignoring the existential threat, creating a darkly humorous dissonance reminiscent of Beckett or early Jodorowsky.
With a budget that likely didn't exceed the cost of a used camera, "Nettle" embraces its limitations. The "monstrous" nettles are just... nettles. The acting is wooden, the effects are nonexistent, and the script feels improvised. Yet, this rawness becomes its identity-a middle finger to polished studio filmmaking.
The film weaponizes banality. By turning harmless plants into a source of dread, it critiques humanity's irrational fears (or perhaps our ignorance of nature's quiet power). The characters' futile quest mirrors the futility of seeking meaning in chaos-a metaphor for life itself? Or just an excuse to film friends running through bushes?
For fans of outsider art, *Nettle* is a cult artifact. Its unapologetic weirdness and anti-narrative structure make it a fascinating case study in DIY filmmaking. There's something perversely admirable about its commitment to being *this* uncompromising. For most viewers, it's a slog. The pacing is glacial, the scares are nonexistent, and the "experimental" label feels like a cop-out for poor execution.
"Nettle" fits snugly into Russia's underground cinema scene, where films like "Jaws 19" and "Mystery of Slender man" thrive on subverting expectations. It's a sibling to YouTube-era "so bad it's good" horror, but with a distinctly Eastern European flavor of existential despair.
"Nettle" is less a movie and more an experience-one that's equal parts baffling, tedious, and oddly hypnotic. It won't scare you, but it might make you question why you're watching it... and why you can't look away.
"Don't touch the nettles! They're... evil!" - A line delivered with the gravitas of Shakespeare, minus the coherence.
