Directed by:
Peter StricklandScreenplay:
Peter StricklandCinematography:
Ari WegnerComposer:
Cavern of Anti-MatterCast:
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hayley Squires, Leo Bill, Fatma Mohamed, Gwendoline Christie, Julian Barratt, Richard Bremmer, Jaygann Ayeh, Sidse Babett Knudsen (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Obliquely split between two distinct tales in a dreamy divide reminiscent of David Lynch's Lost Highway, Strickland's film is populated with an idiosyncratic array of indelible characters and imagery. From a lonely divorcee to the wife of a washing machine repairman with a thousand-yard stare, dissatisfied souls float through a mesmerizing miasma of surreal sights and sounds, sporadically punctuated with bursts of disorienting collage-montage evoking the experimental works of Arthur Lipsett. Pervading each thread is the witchy sales-matron (Fatma Mohamed) of the demonic department store, who speaks to her clientele in a cryptic verse to mask her dark designs, and an eccentric pair of bureaucrats hilariously portrayed by cult-favourite actors Steve Oram and Julian Barratt. Further bolstered by an entrancing cast that includes Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Gwendoline Christie, to say nothing of the villainous dress itself — which hauntingly sails towards its victims with an eerie glide that flirts with both camp and genuine menace — In Fabric is an absorbing synthesis of the exquisite pastiche Strickland achieved with Berberian Sound Studio and the erotic romanticism of his The Duke of Burgundy, here hemmed to sinister effect. (Toronto International Film Festival)
(more)Cast
Marianne Jean-Baptiste
UK
Best movies:
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Secrets & Lies (1996)
New Year's Day (2000)
Hayley Squires
UK
Best movies:
I, Daniel Blake (2016)
The Miniaturist (2017) (series)
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021)
Leo Bill
UK
Best movies:
Hamlet (2015) (theatrical recording)
Vera Drake (2004)
The Fall (2006)
Fatma Mohamed
Romania
Best movies:
Katalin Varga (2009)
In Fabric (2018)
Berberian Sound Studio (2012)
Gwendoline Christie
UK
Best movies:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
The Friend (2019)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
Julian Barratt
UK
Best movies:
The Mighty Boosh Live: Future Sailors Tour (2009)
The Reckoning (2002)
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021)
Richard Bremmer
UK
Best movies:
Control (2007)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Onegin (1999)
Jaygann Ayeh
Best movies:
Les Misérables (2012)
The Souvenir: Part II (2021)
The Souvenir (2019)
Sidse Babett Knudsen
Denmark
Best movies:
After the Wedding (2006)
Villa paranoia (2004)
Sons (2024)
Caroline Catz
UK
Best movies:
Agatha Christie's Marple (2004) (series)
McDonald & Dodds (2020) (series)
I, Anna (2012)
Steve Oram
UK
Best movies:
It's All Gone Pete Tong (2004)
Green Wing (2004) (series)
Tucked (2018)
Pano Masti
Greece
Best movies:
Sherlock (2010) (series)
The Devil's Double (2011)
A Private War (2018)
Susanna Cappellaro
Best movies:
Listen (2020)
Dark Shadows (2012)
In Fabric (2018)
Sara Dee
UK
Best movies:
Down Terrace (2009)
Sightseers (2012)
Free Fire (2016)
Gavin Brocker
UK
Best movies:
Foyle's War (2002) (series)
Cass (2008)
Bonded by Blood (2010)
Antonio Mancino
Italy
Best movies:
Lords of Chaos (2018)
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
In Fabric (2018)