The Desert of the Real
An audience favourite at IDFA, The Desert of the Real explores their lives before these life-altering events, their experiences of psychosis and the road back. Their candid and emotional memories are recreated in staged scenes that reflect the feeling several of the protagonists had that they were living inside a film: living rooms and psychiatric clinics are revealed to be sets. The documentary’s distinctive visual style draws inspiration from science fiction and horror films. Gradually, the perspective shifts: the protagonists do not return to a “healthy” world, but to a reality that is itself alienating and deeply unsettling.
The Desert of the Real, the new documentary by Luuk Bouwman (Gerlach, The Propagandist), sheds light on the experience of psychosis and questions how society treats people who fall outside the norm. Its title is taken from the science-fiction classic The Matrix (1999).
- Direction
- Luuk Bouwman
- Duration
- 110 min
- RELEASE
- Thu 13 Aug
- Year
- 2026
- Country
- Netherlands
- Language
- Dutch
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