Before we get into news about the release of Steven Ellison aka Flying Lotus’ first feature film (which is a collaboration with David Firth, creator of a certain old friend named Salad Fingers), Kuso, allow me to introduce you to a pustulous Tim Heidecker head popping out of a toilet:
And whatever the hell this is:
And let’s throw in these scary children for good measure:
So now that you’ve seen these screencaps (from a previously released trailer), you know a bit of what you can anticipate come mid-Summer, which is when the streaming service Shudder — which just picked up Kuso — will make it available. As Pitchfork reports, it’ll be up on Shudder and available to purchase on iTunes and Amazon on July 21. If you live in NYC or LA, you’ll also be able to see it in theaters starting that day. (Though given just how tumescent cyst-heavy this all looks, perhaps the small screen might be a healthier viewing option.)
FlyLo has been tweeting about the news, and is seemingly very thrilled about the niche streaming home for his also-niche film:
When someone said that Netflix should have picked up his film at Sundance, he replied:
Beyond mesmerically/sickeningly animated body horror, the movie boasts performances from Hannibal Burress, Iesha Coston, Oumi Zoumi, Tim Heidecker (as seen above), Anders Holm, someone called “The Buttress,” Zack Fox (also pictured, covered in goo, above), George Clinton, and more. Its soundtrack includes work from Aphex Twin, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, The Buttress (more Buttress!), and Flying Lotus himself.
The Verge reported on the film from Sundance, with writer Chris Plainte calling it “the grossest movie ever made.” He summarized it as “a collection of semi-connected short films chronicling the lives of the mutated women, men, and children of Los Angeles, following the earthquake to end all earthquakes,” then continued: “The sliced eyeball in Un Chien Andalou, the copious shit in River of Fundament, the corporeal mutilation of the entire torture-porn genre: it’s all an amuse-bouche for the final course that is Kuso.” Apparently, there is a character whose neck-boil (or pustule/cyst/whatever else I may have already referred to them as) talks, and that talking boil also is the recipient of…sex. Following the sex, “the boil keeps talking, even though its mouth is full of semen,” Plainte clarifies.
Consequence of Sound was pretty into the movie, saying “those willing to let Ellison walk them through his 93-minute nightmare will find something challenging, revolting, and eminently watchable.” Dennis Harvey at Variety was less wooed, noting how it’d led to walkouts at Sundance and equating it to “pretty much exactly like 90 minutes of a toddler sticking its stained finger in your face while giggling, ‘Looka my poopie!'”
Watch the trailer: