I wasn't looking forward to the rest of Wobble Palace after getting through the first few minutes. In fact, I had already wondered how I would remain polite and constructive in what I imagined would be a fairly scathing review. The lead male character was awful and nauseating, and the lead female character was someone I judged based on the fact that she'd been in a relationship with that male. Thankfully, I soon realised that those involved with the film knew exactly what they were doing. This is a film populated by, and I cannot think of any better word for them, wankers. Some are better than others, but all of them have succumbed to the multitude of temptations surrounding us in modern life, from easy sex to easy money, from pretentious art to a sustained level of narcissism.
Eugene Kotlyarenko plays Eugene, the young man who may be nearing the end of his relationship with Jane (Dasha Nekrasova). The two agree to split the time in their home over one weekend, with Eugene having the place to himself on the Saturday and Jane due to have it on the Sunday. All that freedom could be a blessing, but it all depends on what plans Eugene and Jane can fit into their one allotted day, making use of Tinder, friends with benefits, or just people they have been interested in for some time already. It also feels like an optimistic time, offsetting the personal troubles of the lead characters, just before the election of 2016, with Jane particularly pleased at the thought of the USA about to have their first female President.
With Kotlyarenko also in the director's chair here, having developed the story with Nekrasova, it's good to see that he knows how much comedy he can mine from his onscreen persona. Kotlyarenko also helmed the better-known Spree (the film he delivered immediately after this one), and he has a good way of incorporating phone screen activity into his movies without it feeling overly cool or gimmicky. For better or for worse, Kotlyarenko also seems to be very familiar with the type of character that he plays in this movie. That's not to undersell the value of Nekrasova's input, however. She seems equally well-informed when it comes to her character, and the way in which she views the bubble that she lives in. Nekrasova made a bit more of an impact recently with her feature debut, The Scary Of Sixty-First, and it's easy to see the connective tissue between the two films.
Alongside the fun lead performances, support comes in the shape of Paige Elkington (a potential date/photographer), Kim Ye (also a potential date), Caroline Hebert (can you guess?) and Vishwam Velandy (yep, he plays someone that Jane wants to have some sexy fun with). They aren't the only people in the cast, but they are the most memorable. Each character brings out something in our leads, mainly showing up their glaring flaws, and there's fun to be had in watching each main encounter unfold.
I am sure that many people will react to this as I did during the opening 5-10 minutes. But give it a bit more time and I suspect you may be won round. While it is, in many ways, similar to many other lo-fi indie comedy dramas of the past decade or so, Wobble Palace actually has a lot of sharp wit folded into pretty much every scene. There's a level of insight and self-awareness that other films in this arena often lack. I would happily rewatch this any time, and I hope to one day check out some of the earlier work from Kotlyarenko (who has now played a character named Eugene in at least three feature films, with A Wonderful Cloud, from 2015, sounding like a practice run at this material).
8/10
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