The Old Man Movie

Three city children are forced to spend the summer on their deranged grandfather’s farm in rural Estonia. When they accidentally free his prized cow, they learn that they have 24 hours to recapture it so that it can be milked, otherwise its ever-expanding udders will explode causing the lactocalypse. A frenetic adventure ensues that gets increasingly surreal and scatological as it progresses, leading to an outrageous, unforgettable finale. Fans of A Town Called Panic (LIFF 2009) will love this hilarious and twisted stop-motion animation based on a popular Estonian web series.

‘Baltic country-bumpkin shock comedy The Old Man Movie is not a film for the faint of heart, the squeamish, easily nauseated, lactose-intolerant, or humour-impaired. It’s a feature-length expansion of Peeter Ritso and Mikk Mägi’s animated webseries, initiated in 2012 as little more than a wry joke while in school. It became hugely successful, which prompts some very serious concerns about the moral and psychological health of the Estonian people. In any case, the derisive look at life out in farm country is pretty universal, as are the assorted bodily functions and effluvia that soon enough stain the screen. Written and directed by Mägi and Oskar Lehemaa, The Old Man Movie is a high-water mark for stop-motion animation, and a glorious new low in lowbrow laughs!’

Rupert Bottenberg for Fantasia Festival