Joel Potrykus directs and stars in a surprisingly spiritual, idiosyncratic film about developmentally challenged men.

By Siddhant Adlakha

Two men wandering through a Michigan forest while bickering about inconsequential things shouldn’t be this intriguing. But writer-director (and actor) Joel Potrykus gets right to the heart of their human drama in “Vulcanizadora,” an oddball slow burn about a macabre pact gone awry.

Low-quality video footage of arson and vandalism lures us into the pristine, picturesque 16mm footage of a rural path. This is the setting of the film and the aesthetic standard for much of Potrykus's story, in which he plays a troubled, nervous, and often irritating character named Derek Skiba. Derek's enthusiasm seems at odds with that of his friend, Martin Jackitansky (Joshua Burge), who has little patience for the former's youthful antics. Derek wants to quit and make crazy fireworks videos with their old DV tape Handycam. Martin, meanwhile, has other goals in mind, but the film plays its cards close to home.