Solvent (film)

Solvent
Directed by	Johannes Grenzfurthner
Written by	Johannes Grenzfurthner Benjamin Roberts
Produced by	Jasmin Hagendorfer Julianne Gabert Guenther Friesinger Johannes Grenzfurthner Tom Gorai (executive) Annick Mahnert (executive) Bill Straus (executive) Neal Jones (executive)
Starring	Jon Gries Aleksandra Cwen Johannes Grenzfurthner Roland Gratzer
Cinematography	Florian Hofer
Edited by	Anton Paievski
Music by	Pieter de Graaf
Production company	monochrom
Running time	94 minutes
Country	Austria
Languages	English German

Solvent is an upcoming English-language Austrian supernatural mystery comedy drama horror film directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner and produced by art group monochrom. It stars Jon Gries, Aleksandra Cwen, Johannes Grenzfurthner, and Roland Gratzer.

Plot

In an Austrian farmhouse, a team of experts discovers a hidden secret while searching for Nazi documents. Among the team is Gunner S. Holbrook, an American expatriate who becomes increasingly obsessed with unraveling the mystery. As Holbrook delves deeper into the farmhouse's dark history, his sanity begins to unravel, leading him to confront an insatiable evil lurking within.

Themes

Horror and sound play an essential role in the film. Grenzfurthner says that Solvent forms a trilogy with Masking Threshold and Razzennest. In an interview with VOD Club, Grenzfurthner explains that while the films in the trilogy don't share a narrative thread, they are linked by their examination of philosophical themes.

In "Masking Threshold," it revolves around the ether, the vibrations, the ephemeral horror. In "Razzennest," it's about the ground, the earth, what is hidden within it, what cannot let go. And in "Solvent," as the name suggests, it will focus on the liquid; on the water that unerringly carves its path, serving as a metaphor for the indelible power of history.

The film combines a point-of-view style with experimental techniques, incorporating elements of both mystery and splatter films.

Production

At the film shoot for Solvent in Unterzögersdorf, Lower Austria, in March 2023.

The film was primarily shot in Unterzögersdorf, Lower Austria, from March to November 2023.

Cast

• Jon Gries as Gunner S. Holbrook
• Aleksandra Cwen as Krystyna Szczepanska
• Johannes Grenzfurthner as Ernst Bartholdi
• Roland Gratzer as Fredi Weinhappl
• Jasmin Hagendorfer as Cornelia Dunzinger/Cousine Edith
• Ronald von den Sternen as Richie Fischvogt
• Peter Plos (body performance) and Galen Howard (voice) as Kyle Edward Boll
• Bibiane Zimba as Leni
• Sky Elobar as Mike Haneke
• Otto Zucker (archival footage) as Wolfgang Zinggl

Release

The film will have its premiere at Slash Filmfestival in Vienna in September 2024.

Johannes Grenzfurthner's reliably radical(ly humorous) fathoming of the Austrian psyche in stream-of-consciousness style is a witty and sometimes hilariously low-brow POV-horror grotesque. The director leads the viewer down to dank, damp cellars where yesteryear's gunk seeps unhindered into the present. And the result is a film as visionary as it is insane.

Nightmares Film Festival is hosting the U.S. premiere. Dark Nights Film Festival in Sydney is presenting the Australian premiere.

See also

• Art horror
• Horror-of-personality
• Social thriller

External links

• Solvent at IMDb
• Solvent at Letterboxd
• Official homepage