Rubber (2010)

This film is weird. Really weird. Let's get that out of the way up front. This is a film about a killer tyre. A tyre that gains consciousness, and rolls into the world making people's heads explode using its telekinetic powers. But it also a very self-aware film, that uses this ridiculous premise to comment on the medium of film as a whole. It starts with a sheriff (Stephen Spinella) delivering a straight monologue to you, the viewer, in which he posits that things happen in film for no reason, and as such they shouldn't be expected to make sense. Soon after we are introduced to a group of spectators gathered in the desert, they are handed pairs of binoculars and asked to start watching. Then for the remainder of the film they watch the action unfold and frequently comment upon it as an audience. However they also exist within the film and interact with some of the characters and events. It is an extremely meta way of approaching the concept, but one that helps keep it fresh and self-depreciating throughout.
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As the tyre (or Robert as we are informed upon the closing credits) wreaks his path of destruction through a small desert community, we interact with many of the people who live there, but never in any great detail. The focus is always on the tyre, and as silly as it sounds, it (he?) puts in a genuine performance. The mix of animatronic and real is cleverly disguised and the way that a simple inanimate object is given a personality, and in the early scenes as he learns about his powers, it is very funny, but also engaging. Director and writer Quentin Dupieux (also known as music DJ Mr Oizo) puts his unique spin on every aspect of the film, and shoots it well with an obviously limited budget.
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The film feels like an experiment, and at times it is very successful. It constantly surprised me and frequently made me laugh. My main issues with the film resolve around it's lack of a central character or storyline. Effective as the tyre is there is little in the way of ongoing narrative, and as such no real characters to root for or engage with. As such individual scenes work well, but as a whole it doesn't quite gel. Still I would take an interesting but flawed film over something boring and safe every day of the week, and there is enough here to recommend for those who are happy to broaden their film palette.
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It's difficult to say too much more without discussing specific scenes and ideas, and I don't want to spoil a film that works better the less that you know. Thinking back on it now I find myself with somewhat fonder memories than maybe I had at the time, largely at the ambition and gall of what Dupieux managed to create. A film that shouldn't work at all, and that somehow opens entire conversations about film narrative, whilst also working as a trashy slasher film of sorts. It may not have fully come together, but Rubber is a filmic oddity, definitely worthy of your interest.