★★✰✰✰
Director Renata Pinheiro’s off-the-wall science fiction film King Car is bursting at the seams with themes, but its ambitious ideas don’t automatically compensate for lackluster characters and a scattershot approach to storytelling.
King Car takes place in the semi-futuristic Brazilian city of Caruaru, rife with wealth inequality and restrictive governmental policies. Our protagonist, Uno (Luciano Pedro Jr.), is able to speak to cars and vice-versa. He bonds deeply with one in particular, voiced exuberantly by Tavinho Teixeira. Uno decides begin to work with his uncle Zé (Matheus Nachtergaele) on a venture upgrading old car models recently banned by the authorities, allowing them to speak for themselves—all under the guidance of the titular, charismatic hunk of metal known as King Car. With leadership relinquished to him, King Car creates a cult surrounding him and starts to have other thoughts on his mind besides “helping” citizens acquire further independence. His later goals become, unsurprisingly, morally questionable.
Alas, King Car doesn’t exactly reign supreme. The film is chock full of comically bold sequences, but without a compelling story to latch onto, the whole ordeal feels like a jumble of ideas haphazardly stitched together. The end result is unfortunately predictable; King Car veers out of control all over the road from beginning to end. This includes not one but two automotive sex scenes with performance artist Mercedes (Jules Elting), who enjoys branding symbols of power with menstrual blood as a political statement.
A crazed attitude to storytelling pervades King Car from start to finish, sacrificing nuanced discussion for an often uncomfortable, though bluntly effective spectacle in the service of leading from one big moment to the next. The 90-minute duration, rushes scenes along without giving the characters just as little time to breathe as anybody watching. Add to that a time-hopping narrative that eventually defies logic, and King Car cruises on its imagination alone, covering a lot of thematic territory.
At least these topics are provocative, even if they deserve a more mature approach. The notions of technology against nature, human de-evolution at the mercy of electronic devices, rebellion against oppression, and what true societal progress really means are all rich with possible interpretations. Unfortunately, most of the characters—even Uno, despite Pedro Jr. ‘s acting chops—resemble little more than means to illustrate Pinheiro’s viewpoints, viewpoints that aren’t even especially distinctive for the sci-fi genre.
One exception is Zé, who devolves further and further into animalistic behaviors as events progress, losing his humanity in the service of technological “advancement.” Nachtergaele gives a suitably exaggerated performance, capturing his mad scientist archetype with memorable zeal. Never mind the fact that King Car contains multiple scenes of him pole-dancing, one of the film’s many unnecessary asides that only distracts from the plot’s focus. Similarly, Teixeira does strong work portraying King Car, but, yet again, there’s just not much to find beneath the hood.
Although the plot sputters, its presentation is bleakly effective. DJ Dolores’ score pulsates with synth energy. The dust-covered landscapes, dreary color palette, and tactile yet over-the-top visuals (featuring cars bouncing and flashing their blinkers while talking) function well for this cautionary tale. Once powered down, though, Pinheiro’s film seems overstuffed and frustratingly cold when it could have been outstanding. There’s enough eye-catching moments here to passably recommend, but King Car needs some maintenance before hitting the road.
The Verdict
Conceptually audacious but disappointingly bereft of emotional engagement, King Car winds up being less than the sum of its many, many parts. What could have been something profound and interesting ends up feeling like something of a mechanical misfire.
King Car is currently streaming as part of the Fantasia Film Festival 2021.
Words by Alex McPherson
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