Psycho Therapy
A novel needs to be read, not explained, not paraphrased into a synopsis over a dinner party to an audience who are, at best, politely disinterested, but that is what Keane is trying to do, blessed by the unexpected success of his first book inspired by a Monogolian grandmother who does not exist, now four years into drafting his long-delayed followup, set in proto-Slovenia in 40,000BC.
A primal encounter between primitive Homo Sapiens and the last Neanderthal, a prehistoric spark in a cave, his unproductive obsession has left his wife Suzie despairing, he trying to make the best of the uncomfortable evening while she cannot even pretend any more, the one who is financially responsible and has found herself caring for a whiny man-child who brings a stranger into their home to act as marriage counsellor when she says she wants a divorce.
Billed as a black comedy thriller and built around communication problems, crossed wires and awkward confessions as well as some casual kidnapping and gunplay, Psycho Therapy is the English language feature debut of Turkish writer and director Tolga Karaçelik, set in New York and starring Britt Lower and John Magaro as the disenchanted couple whose marriage is dissolving in the same manner as Suzie’s mascara runs as she chops many, many onions.
Subtitled The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer, the normally reliable Steve Buscemi is Kollmick, eccentric for the sake of it rather than because it illustrates his character but a retired serial killer rather than a professional therapist, Keane improvising to balance the uneven parts of his life when the self-professed fan of The Sorrow on the Steppes offers to act as consultant on a redirection of his faltering project.
Kollmick an enigma of unclear purpose, motivation something Karaçelik struggles with as much as Keane in his writing, what could be an absurdist comedy of manners and the bad decisions of desperate people unravels, but not in any way which is engaging or entertaining, comedy needing pace and drama needing stakes, the long-suffering Suzie burnt out by an oblivious husband, so disengaged she is almost not there, intellectualising rather than feeling her misery.
Verbose but stalled in lecture mode rather than exploring and moving forwards, the dull minutiae of other people’s lives, Suzie stating on their first meeting Keane did nothing but talk about potatoes and she stayed through a feeling of obligation rather than interest in what he had to say, like her Psycho Therapy needs the introspection to break what holds it back, unable to shake the feeling that some understanding has been lost in the translation from what might have been quirky European arthouse to lifeless American gangster caper.
Psycho Therapy available on digital download now
