Hunting down the murderer of their families in an anarchic near-future Berlin, two outlaws find themselves trapped in the wicked fairy tale of a mysterious screenplay that entangles them in a vicious circle of revenge – apparently all written by a clueless dentist.  In their quest for vengeance, they must contend with a myriad of wicked fairy tale assassins, madmen, a blood-covered angel, and an electric-powered superhero.

One of my favorite films from this past year was a crazy meta film called Snowflake. I saw it back in September at the Horrible Imagings film festival in Santa Ana. If you have read my reviews in the past, you probably know that I love absurd-ism.  Snowflake‘s twisty-turning fairy tale of story is brimming with the kind of outlandish story points I really enjoy.

Snowflake tells of two immigrant men, Javid (Reza Brojerdi) and Tan (Erkan Acar) in Berlin on a quest for vengeance against the man they hold responsible for the deaths of their families. Nothing out of the ordinary here. Until…the two men discover the screenplay for Snowflake in the back of the car they have stolen. They are stunned to read everything that happened to them the night before, word for word. At the same time, elsewhere in Berlin, Eliana (Xenia Assenza) asks her family’s former bodyguard, Carson (David Masterson), for help in tracking down the men who killed her parents. He takes her get help from his father, God.

The two story-lines careen toward each other as the characters all cross paths with hired killers, an android, a pair of cannibalistic brothers wearing animal masks, an electrified super hero, and maybe even an angel. Additionally, Javid and Tran locate the author of the screenplay, Arend Remmers (Alexander Schubert), a local dentist who is being compelled to write it but he doesn’t know why.

Brojerdi & Acar are excellent as the two characters who tie everything together. As the heroes of their own story while being the villains of another, the pair simultaneously earn the sympathy and disdain of the audience. Masterson also turns in a terrific Liam Neeson-esque performance. But my favorite characters, by far, are Rashid (Selam Tadese) and Fumo (Eskindir Tesfay) two contract killers that Eliana and Carson look to hire.  The scene in which they go over their contract, which includes options like a punch line to be said as they kill the target and a video of the event complete with music, is one of my favorite moments.

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this film. Although the story has Charlie Kaufman style absurdity and it’s directed in a style reminiscent of Tarantino, Snowflake is at the same time it’s own thing. Filmmakers Adolfo J. Kolmerer and William James along with writer Arend Remmers (yes he is actually the writer although he isn’t really a dentist…as far as I know) have put together a film full of amazing and ridiculous characters in an adventure that keeps you guessing the whole way.

I would tell you more but to do so would spoil the experience that is Snowflake. Do yourself a favor, just go an watch the film!