Strawberry Mansion (film)

Strawberry Mansion[4] is a 2021 American science fiction adventure romantic comedy film directed and written by Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley. It stars Penny Fuller, Kentucker Audley, Grace Glowicki, Reed Birney, Linas Phillips and Constance Shulman.[5]

Strawberry Mansion
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written by
  • Albert Birney
  • Kentucker Audley
Produced by
  • Sarah Winshall
  • Taylor Shung
  • Emma Hannaway
  • Matisse Rifai
Starring
CinematographyTyler Davis
Edited by
  • Albert Birney
  • Kentucker Audley
Music byDan Deacon
Production
companies
Distributed byMusic Box Films (United States)
Alief (International)
Release dates
  • January 29, 2021 (2021-01-29) (Sundance)[1]
  • February 18, 2022 (2022-02-18) (United States)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$97,526[2][3]

Plot

In 2035, society's dreams are taxed by the government, which has mandated increased surveillance measures upon the general public. Government agent James Preble travels to the countryside home of the elderly Arabella Isadora, an artist who lives alone with her pet tortoise Sugar Baby in the self-titled Strawberry Mansion. Arabella's dreams are stored on a vast library of VHS tapes, which Preble reviews to conduct an audit; at Bella's insistence, he stays in her guest room. In his dreams, he regularly spends his time in a pink room with Buddy, who presents him with commercial products; one such session is interrupted by a younger apparition of Bella. During his audit, Preble begins to fall in love with the younger Bella; he grows closer to her in the real world, and she reveals that the government allows advertisers to transmit ads to a person's dreams. She presents him with homemade headgear designed to hold them off; it successfully defends against Buddy. Sometime later, she dies peacefully and is discovered by Preble.

Bella's estranged son Peter Bloom arrives with his wife, Martha, and son, Brian, to handle Bella's affairs. Peter suggests to Preble that he is finished his audit and may now leave. A suspicious Preble discovers Martha and Brian destroying the VHS tapes mid-audit and declares it a federal offense, angrily informing Peter that he will have to notify his superiors; Peter responds by later knocking him unconscious with a bowling pin. Preble vividly dreams of himself being chased around the house by exaggerated incarnations of the Blooms before he is rescued by the younger Bella. They escape to a small island, where they sustain and entertain themselves for a long time. Eventually, Bella reveals that Peter is the CEO of the country's largest advertisement corporation and that his knowledge of the dream-infiltrating advertisement scheme has placed him in danger. Various incarnations of Buddy appear and Preble wakes up; Peter knocks him out a second time and sets the room on fire; he and the family leave Preble to die.

Preble reawakens in his dream as the captain of a ship, helmed by two humanoid sailor rats, Richard and Marcus Rat. For the next seven years, they sail the seas in search of Bella, but the Rats eventually begin to question the mission's viability. As the fire in his room picks up, a giant Blue Demon attacks the ship at sea. Preble's surroundings dissolve around him and he dines with the normal-sized Blue Demon, who is keeping Bella in servitude. After the Demon goes to bed, Preble frees Bella and they escape back to the island. Bella warns him that he cannot stay with her for much longer, as he will soon die from the fire if he does not wake up. At her insistence, Preble turns into a caterpillar and spends the next several centuries traversing the earth, finally arriving at his pink room. He is confronted by a wrathful Buddy, but Bella arrives to help Preble overpower and ultimately vanquish him.

Preble and Bella are bid farewell by a sendoff party of all of the dream's characters; an apparition of Peter warmly greets and apologizes to both of them. They float off into space but find themselves disintegrating as Preble's mind continues to feel the fire's heat. Preble awakens and escapes the house, but reenters to retrieve the headgear, Sugar Baby, and a tape. Preble sorrowfully watches Strawberry Mansion burn down.

Upon returning home, Preble reminisces on the VHS tape, the contained dream of which shows Bella on a date with a mysterious grass man; Bella eventually brushes off the grass to reveal Preble underneath. The film ends with the two of them walking hand-in-hand to Strawberry Mansion.

Cast

Release

The film premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 29, 2021 in the Next section.[1][6] On June 21, 2021, Music Box Films acquired its US distribution rights and Alief acquired its international distribution rights.[7]

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, the film earned $34,004 from twenty-seven theaters in its opening weekend.[8] It made $11,055 in its second weekend,[9] $3,577 in its third,[10] $3,744 in its fourth,[11] $1,309 in its fifth,[12] $356 in its sixth,[13] $2,486 in its seventh,[14] and $552 in its eighth.[15] The film returned to theaters in its eleventh weekend, earning $165 from one theater.[16] It left theaters the following weekend, but once again returned to a single screen in its thirteenth weekend that added $705.[17]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 76 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.0/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Strawberry Mansion's sci-fi premise provides cover for a film whose dream logic and surreal visuals are underscored by quietly poignant themes."[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[19]

In a review published by New York Times, Amy Nicholson referred to the film as "soulful sci-fi oddity".[20]

References
  1. "Sundance - FPG". Sundance. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  2. "Strawberry Mansion (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  3. "Strawberry Mansion (2022)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  4. "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production - Strawberry Mansion". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  5. Adam Patterson (February 18, 2022). "30 Anticipated Films of 2021". Filme Pulse.
  6. Debruge, Peter (December 15, 2020). "Sundance Film Festival Lineup Features 38 First-Time Directors, Including Rebecca Hall and Robin Wright". Variety. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  7. "Sundance Title 'Strawberry Mansion' Acquired by Alief (EXCLUSIVE)". June 21, 2021.
  8. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 7". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  9. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 8". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  10. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 9". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  11. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 10". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  12. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 11". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  13. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 12". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  14. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 13". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  15. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 14". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  16. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 17". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  17. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 19". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  18. "Strawberry Mansion". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  19. "Strawberry Mansion". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  20. Nicholson, Amy (February 17, 2022). "'Strawberry Mansion' Review: Adventures in Slumberland". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
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