Forest (Rengeteg)

Ambitious and ambiguous, Benedict Fliegauf’s Forest is a singular film, weaving together a loosely connected, only partially explicated series of dramatic vignettes to create an unsettling, uncategorizable whole. Most of the scenes build towards some kind of uncomfortable confrontation, but the viewer is not always given enough information to interpret exactly what’s going on: two men discuss an unseen object, keeping you guessing about its identity to disturbing effect. Two young parents argue about their young daughter’s emerging sexuality, with increasingly inappropriate detail. The disparate parts are reconciled by a clever conclusion, but the film remains fascinatingly enigmatic throughout.