« I think I must’ve gotten confused while I was driving. Where are we? »

Two friends stumble upon an unusual scene: six men are sensuously licking the pavement of a deserted Los Angeles street. For Ricky, this moment is a true cataclysm. As reality blurs and memories fade, a new logic, as delirious as it is fascinating, takes hold.

With Sour Minnows, Harrison Atkins offers one of those what-the-fuck films that leaves you completely uncertain. Uncertain if you understood anything, and uncertain if you liked it. But above all, a film that gets people reacting and talking.

A slow, very slow experimental film

As time stretches and distorts, the bonds uniting Ricky—notably with cinephile Aura (Suzanna Son)—take surprising and unexpected directions. Between memories laced with lies and a reality that has become completely malleable, the protagonist soon finds himself at the mercy of “the yellow thing,” an elusive entity slipped on like a flesh suit.

At times, it gives the impression that we are watching a zombie movie. Yet, that is not the case. Are these simply people lost in our meaningless post-pandemic world? Has life become completely empty and soulless? That is somewhat what emerges from this experimental film which, at times, seems to lose the thread. But in an experimental film, losing the thread is not as problematic as in a traditional narrative film.

However, the slow pace, thin narrative thread, and mundane dialogue may discourage many. Yet Sour Minnows brings interesting questions and an interesting way of creating. The minimalism allows viewers to focus on the characters and their reality without being distracted by uninteresting visual and sound effects. And this is probably the very strength that many will hold against it.

Quantum in fiction

Although it tackles arduous concepts, Sour Minnows infuses an unexpected breath of lightness as the end times approach, letting the melancholic and quirky humor that characterizes the work peek through the darkness. Extending the strengths of his first feature film, Lace Crater, Atkins endows his protagonists with such sincerity that you feel like you are sharing their damp sofa, chatting about this and that. It is precisely these moments of intimate connection that trace the film’s guiding thread, leading straight to its vibrant heart.

Between a suffocating mise en scène, a paranoid editing style, and a vast supernatural conspiracy, the feature suddenly bifurcates toward regions reminiscent of Mulholland Drive before insinuating itself lastingly into your mind, pleading with moving compassion for human connections, the act of creation, and jazz.

The director uses certain principles of quantum physics, thus giving the characters’ reality a disconcerting malleability. Because of this, one sometimes has the impression of navigating between simple reality and a sort of alternative reality that characterizes our world in 2026.

Sour Minnows is presented at the Fantasia Festival on July 24 and 29, 2026.