‘Manodrome’ review [Berlinale 2023]

Featuring a virtually unrecognisable Jessie Eisenberg, The impressive, though frequently intense Manodrome focuses its lens on a New York cabbie who is inducted into a cult headed up by Adrien Brody’s mysterious ‘Dad Dan’.

Eisenberg is Ralphie, a lost soul who is about to become a father for the first time with his partner Sal (Odessa Young), but, after losing his job at the local factory, takes to earning cash by driving an Uber around the city. He’s still not quite making ends meet, though, and frequently pawns mobile phones or other redeemable clobber left in his cab. He’s got reservations about having a child and is seen wandering around a department store with Sal early in the film wondering just why things are costing so much. He’d also rather be in the gym where he pumps the iron checking out the other men, those with the muscle-bound physiques, specifically Sallieu Sesay’s Ahmet, whose built body he presumably sees as perfect.

Ralphie is a lost soul in a part of New York that is far from the bright lights of Manhattan, so when his gym mate recommends him to a group he’s tied in with, he gladly attends. Headed by Dad Dan (Adrien Brody) – a calm, though dominant character with a soft voice that really reminded me of Matthew McConaughey – the group, called the Manodrone of the title, is female-free, all living together out of the city upstate. Little does Ralphie know that they require that members must cut all ties with existing family and disappear, a decision he then has to approach head-on.

There is tons more going on with the movie that would spoil things if I go into here, but John Trengove’s impressive feature is a tale of one man’s descent into madness, Ralphie losing all grip on reality and making life decisions that are obviously going to come back and bite him. Think Joker, Taxi Driver by way of Uncut Gems and you’ll get the tone and world in which we are inhabiting here. Eisenberg is fantastic in the lead, a role that is so far away from what we’ve seen him do in the past. He’s brilliant in the film, as too is the rest of the cast, another stand-out being Brody who’s father-figure brings the only calmness to the absolute carnage surrounding him.

There’s a twisty narrative where you can’t quite understand what is happening for real and what isn’t, comparable to what’s going on in Ralphie’s head throughout. One also can’t quite figure out what direction Trengove is taking us, and when the climax does come, I was just about fulfilled even though it was a completely different direction from how I thought it would all end.

A film that will no doubt divide audiences upon release – which is how it should be. I was bowled over by it all and am still thinking about it days after seeing it. Moody, impressive, very intense and supremely violent, Manodrome will bowl you over with its fine performances and mercurial atmosphere. A stunning piece of work.

Manodrome was reviewed at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival.