Asylum Seekers (2009)

Just perfect...

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

One flew over the cuckoo's nest a bit too many in this wacko comedy with some absurdist driven plot evolving around five mentally unstable people attempting to compete for spot at a mental asylum. Within its confines the mysterious Dr Beard (visualised for the most part as a beard stuck onto a speaker-phone) attempts to grade the applicants and choose amongst them the most worthy candidate. Amongst them (as per the movie introduction to characters): Dr Raby (Daniel Izirarry) the virgin nymphomaniac, Maud (Pepper Binkley) the trophy mouse-wife, Paul (Lee Wilkof) the evangelical nihilist, Miranda (Camille O'Sullivan) the introverted exhibitionist, Alan (Bill Dawes) the gender bender refugee and Alice (Stella Maeve) the cybernetic lolita. With all out contenders ready for action, nurse Milly (Judith Hawking) initiates the game."Asylum Seekers" treads a very thin line with its over-exuberant surrealist absurdity, which often seems to have less to do with Luis Bunuel and more with "Airplane" and similar spoof comedies. Despite obvious intellectual inclinations and though-out dialogue the end result proves that this line has been largely obliterated by a mix of bad acting and ineffectual idiocy. Never truly funny it therefore fails as an overall concept, even if some glee can be taken from the dreamlike qualities, which transgress us into one of the wackiest on-screen adventures ever. Some viewers will be profoundly head-scratching way before the end credits, others may find it as exhilarating as an LSD trip, all in all it doesn't function well as a movie per se, instead more as a side event of edgy tidbits of craziness and surrealism.

In reference to some of the previous reviews, yes "Asylum Seekers" dares to be surreal. Whether this is a compliment or an epithet is entirely according to individual taste, I suppose. I think that the film is quite smart and very humorous, although at times the joke takes a while to sink in. This, to my mind, is a good thing. Themes of acting, self-presentation, fragmentation, and "mental health" in modern life are presented quite well in this film. True, quite often "Asylum Seekers" dispenses with easy plot devices, but this seems to be rooted in an expectation that the audience will actually engage a bit with the underlying themes rather than passively wait to be jolted into cheap laughter or "understanding".Interestingly, the film reminds me a lot of Raymond Roussel's novels; Roussel was funny too, but only if you were open to his strange sense of the world.For those interested in the formal qualities of a film, I can say that "Asylum Seekers" looks great. True, it is not "realistic", but it is clear that the director and crew got the most out of what was probably a fairly low budget.So, for lazy viewers, this is not a good film at all. If you actually take X-Factor or "the media" (any media...Fox, MSNBC, BBC...does not matter, really) or your therapist seriously, by all means stay away! If this is the level of your engagement, this film is not only not for you...you are actually the film's target. For those who can appreciate a more complex world than this, however, I can highly recommend "Asylum Seekers".

The plot concept of this film might be best described as a tale of morals but is one that uses the interaction between startlingly bizarre and troubled characters, personalities who describe extreme ends of society. This surprisingly surreal mix in turn questions the viewer's own thoughts on their behaviour as the story continues to develop. The viewer is forced into trying to empathise with each character in order to better understand their individual mannerisms and their interaction with the others. The result is that the troubled nature of each character presents a vignette of differing social mores, whilst all the while the viewer is attempting to determine which one will ultimately prevail in their mutual quest. Cleverly conceived and excellently cast. A fine production.R.

AMAZING ESCAPISM!!! Wish I could escape our "mad" contemporary world through "ASSYLUM SEEKERS" EXIT door!!! Loved the revolutionary Red Digit Cinema Camera! Incredible Inventive Cinematography!!!! Saw the preview in London and I can't wait for the general release in the U.K. Perceived insanity is like beauty in the eye of the beholder! Not all of us would reach a consensus what beauty is & certainly will agree who is sane or insane! Rania Ajami in my view reached the same conclusion! Her inmates evoke certain universal truths! A job well done!! The choice of actors was superb which proved the greatness of the director1 It was a remarkable black comedy!