Wobble Palace

This millennial dramedy doesn’t do itself any favors by presenting its story in disjointed chronology. Even with occasional calendar markers—Halloween, the presidential elections in 2012 and 2016—it takes a long time for the viewer to find a coherent narrative and emotional context for the film’s two major characters. The first half of Wobble Palace is focused on Eugene (Eugene Kotlyarenko, co-writer and director), an oddball who has forgotten how to dress like a grown-up, and who overcompensates for tending towards baldness by piling his remaining hair atop his scalp, like cotton candy—an absurd sight. Eugene spends the day and night texting with women through a hookup website, but coming across as desperate and weird, so nothing works out. The second half concerns Jane (co-writer Dasha Nekrasova), who commandeers the same artsy-whimsical home we just watched Eugene floundering in the day before. Trying to enjoy a first date with a young tech industry success story, Jane repeatedly confronts feelings of inauthenticity and misery. What’s happening is that Jane and Eugene have broken up following a long relationship, but haven’t actually let go enough to head in separate directions. But even though the narrative could have been much clearer, both Nekrasova and Kotlyarenko prove so compelling in their characters’ disillusionment and pain that viewers won’t want to leave them before their problems make sense. A strong optional purchase. (T. Keogh)