Set in the late ‘90s, this monochrome nightmare is bizarre, disturbing, and amusingly outlandish.
Adam (co-writer Kimball Farley), an obsessive gamer whose nickname comes from his stuffed hippopotamus, lives a cloistered life with his previously institutionalised mother Ethel (Eliza Roberts) and adopted Hungarian sister Buttercup (Lilla Kizlinger). Although there are a few years between the siblings, they are both discovering themselves and sex, although neither knows exactly what that means. Being home-schooled, the nearest discussion they get from their mother on that subject is hilariously handled and completely unhelpful. As Buttercup attempts to find a man via Craigslist on the primitive internet (complete with Netscape browser), things turn darker when her ‘suitor’ arrives.
The family dynamic and interactions have an Eraserhead vibe, but the surreal aspects of Mark H. Rapaport’s film are not as outlandish but are as equally peculiar. Farley is superb as the off-kilter teen, lashing out at things he doesn’t understand while trying to find his place in the world (we do pity that poor stuffed hippo!) and crafting himself after his only male role model, who happens to be a character in a violent video game. Rapaport makes the most of the family’s isolation, only occasionally bringing in outsiders. Buttercup’s would-be father of the child she longs for (Jesse Pimentel) is a predator on another level, but he certainly meets his match with Hippo’s family. The black and white presentation, wonderfully realised by cinematographer William Babcock, will likely draw more comparisons to the claustrophobic nature of David Lynch’s abstract masterpiece, but Hippo is very much its own beast. Farley’s titular character seems to regress rather than blossom as he grows older and must take the lead in his home.
The oddness is topped off by the chirpy narration from Eric Roberts (whose wife plays the mother, making this a true family affair). It’s delivered in a manner that complements the colourless images. Rapaport has crafted a movie that would sit well in a double bill with Todd Solondz’s Happiness (1998). It’s as funny as it is uncomfortable, and all the better because of it.
HIPPO is available in the US.
