Mr. K is a 2024 surrealist mystery drama film written and directed by Tallulah H. Schwab starring Crispin Glover.
Plot Mr. K, a traveling magician, finds himself in a Kafkaesque nightmare when he can’t find the exit of the hotel he has slept in. His attempts to get out only pull him deeper inside, entangling him further with the hotel and its curious inhabitants.
Cast
Production The film is a Norwegian-Belgian-Dutch co-production by Lemming Productions along with A Private View and The Film Kitchen and it had the participation and funding from Netherlands Film Fund, The Netherlands Film Production Incentive, CoBO Fund, AVROTROS, Creative Europe, LevelK, Eurimages, Screen Flanders, Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Belgian Tax Shelter and Norsk Filminstitut.
In April 2023, the project was revealed to have wrapped filming in the Netherlands.
Release The film premiered in the Platform Prize competition of the 49th Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September 2024.Anthony D'Alessandro, "Atom Egoyan, Hur Jin-ho & Jane Schoenbrun To Preside Over TIFF Platform Jury; Sidebar Unveiled". Deadline Hollywood, July 23, 2024. It also played as part of the Flash Forward program of the 29th Busan International Film Festival and competed in the official selection at the 57th Sitges Film Festival. It was released in the Netherlands on 16 January 2025.
Reception On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 79% of 19 critics' reviews are positive. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
In a review for RogerEbert.com, Simon Abrams gave the film two out of four stars, writing "there’s not much to Mr. K beyond its second-hand surrealism and strained counter-mythmaking", though he found Glover believable in the titular role.
Awards and nominations Year Festival Category Nominee(s) Result 2024 Imagine Film Festival Méliès d’Argent for Best European Fantastic Film 2024 Toronto International Film Festival Platform Award 2024 Sitges Film Festival Best Motion Picture 2024 Isla Calavera Film Festival Best Costume Design 2025 Grossmann Fantastic Film and Wine Festival Vicious Cat for Best European Fantastic Film 2025 Fantasporto Audience Award 2025 Netherlands Film Festival Golden Calf Best Production Design 2025 Méliès International Festivals Federation Méliès d'Or for Best European Fantastic Film 2025 Film Festival Songielettrici Best VFX/SFX 2025 Best Director 2025 Film Club's The Lost Weekend Avant Robot Award second place - Best Director 2025 Best Supporting Actress 2025 Best Production Design 2025 Best Cinematography 2025 Best Supporting Actor 2025 Best Editing
References
External links