Vulcanizadora, Joel Potrykus’ (Buzzard) latest film, did well on the festival circuit this year, earning an impressive 96% Rotten Tomatoes score with critics using descriptors like “wildly unexpected,” “magnificent,” “unbearably sad,” and “darkly funny.”
It is, it seems, hard to categorize. I’m certainly having trouble trying to describe the trailer, though I can say it mostly leans into the dark comedy aspect of the film… until the last ten or s0 seconds.
Here’s the official synopsis for Vulcanizadora:
Two friends trudge through a Michigan forest with the intention of following through on a disturbing pact. Once their plan goes shockingly awry, the haunting consequences of their failure can’t stay hidden for long.
Potrykus—who wrote, directed, and stars in the film—also has this director’s statement that gets to the meat of what Vulcanizadora is about:
One of my biggest concerns about fatherhood is that I’d soften up and start telling stories of hope and inspiration. Five years after the birth of my one and only son, and I’m mostly consumed with fears of inadequacy, abandonment, and mortality; going to prison by accident, falling off a cliff by accident, jumping off a cliff by accident. Vulcanizadora is my most heartfelt and personal, but not in a good way. It’s my most sincere and emotional, but also my bleakest and most haunting.
In addition to Potrykus, the film stars Joshua Burge, Bill Vincent, Solo Potrykus, and Melissa Blanchard. It opens in select theaters on May 2, 2025.
Check out the trailer below.
