Everyone wants to feel like they’re special. We all, to some degree, hope we are destined for greatness more than what our current lives hold. Some will stop at nothing in order to achieve this, while others may only be able to simply fantasize and ponder the “what ifs.” Stanleyville, directed by Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, offers a subversive, bizarre look at the lengths people will go to in order to win at something, and the hierarchy of personalities of those after a sought-after prize.

We are first introduced to the meek, austere Maria (Susanne Wuest), who is dissatisfied with every aspect of her life; from her mundane job, to her humdrum marriage. So much so, that very early into the film, she reaches her breaking point and decides to ditch her identification and belongings and just up and leave. We never get an in-depth look into the events that led her to this place, but it doesn’t really matter. This is a woman who clearly has had enough, and with little planning or premeditation, decides to run away. 

Very quickly into this life-changing decision, she’s approached by a peculiar man named Homunculus (Julian Richings) who offers her a unique opportunity. He tells her she’s been selected from millions of other people to partake in a contest where the grand prize is a habanero orange SUV. Maria doesn’t ask many of the questions most of us would have, such as how this man just so happened to find her, what the terms are of the contest, and where and when it’s happening. Instead, she quickly agrees, and is taken to the location where the game is taking place.

As would be expected, the games, and the stakes, get increasingly more difficult and malevolent with each round. Some allow the contestants more time to complete than others, and it’s during these prolonged allowances that we get to know each character, and their quirks, in a more in-depth and frightening way. As the game progresses, so does their desperation to win, which leads to the question of whether it’s really the car that they want, or merely the glory of winning and bragging rights.

Amidst all the chaos, Maria remains steadfast in her quiet, calculated determination. Exactly what her thoughts are on winning, and what she plans on doing afterwards, are never expressed. She very likely doesn’t even know the answers to these questions herself, and is simply going through the motions so she can have any kind of excitement and spice to her life. The movie spends so much time illustrating her docile and passive personality, that we never  get to know her well enough to truly understand her. She’s someone worth rooting for, undoubtedly, but it’s difficult to decipher if that’s because she’s likable, or if she’s simply just the most normal and deserving out of the bunch.

Stanleyville manages to stay quirky and darkly comedic despite its quick descent into strange and disturbing territory. It’s obvious it has a statement to make about humanity’s need for attention and their desire for material things, yet still misses the mark on any substance. It feels like it’s going somewhere, but meanders so much that it never quite gets to the ultimate goal. 

Everything these characters go through, and the absolute absurdity of the games, and their actions themselves, paints a picture as though it’s going to have some kind of payoff, yet it never truly accomplishes this. Instead, it feels like a bleak, peculiar, voyeuristic Big Brother-like look at strangers going to unspeakable and unnecessary lengths for a prize that comparatively is not worth it. 

4 out of 10