Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival

Review of "Ingenium" by The Headless Critic

Ingenium – 2018
Production by: Radical Production Method



While getting away on a solo trip to Bangkok, Felicitas (Esther Maaß) befriends a local Gai (Jan Yousagoon) and gets herself in a life threatening situation. Returning home on the run, Felicitas finds the life she left behind isn’t what she remembers. Questioning her sanity, Felicitas is torn between two realities; a life she knows isn’t right and the world that seems so outlandish it can’t be real. Does her boyfriend Titus (Adrian Topol) have her best interest at heart or does the truth lie with her best friend Natascha (Judith Hoersch) who’s been locked away in an asylum most of her adult life?

A nice find from the Netherlands, Ingenium is a part English language feature from first time feature writer Michael Knoll and first time feature director Steffen Hacker. The upstart filmmakers brilliantly craft a layered story of confusion and self-discovery. Alternate realities are created; one consisting of a woman who’s off her medication, forgetting her past and refusing help from loved ones. The other involves supernatural abilities, time travel and a conspiracy. A complicated script is kept captivating. The film does have a few lulls that could be tightened up but the upstart filmmakers make a professional looking feature with nice use of CGI, good performances from their cast and limitless possibilities of potential sequels.

Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival


3 out of 5 Headless Critics