Between hypnotic and tough: in her most recent comedy, Jessica Hausner once again cultivates humor that is so evil that it is almost unrecognizable as humor and her very own elaborate, dry style. While the detailed, sophisticated color scene leans towards toxic pastel­ all of the protagonists in CLUB ZERO speak in such a flat way as if English is a foreign language to them. The modernist interior is just as stiff, somewhere between a VHS seminar room and Le Corbusier. Meanwhile, plot-wise and emotionally, everything gets out of hand: an international elite school hires renowned Miss Novak (Mai Wasikowska) to offer a class on nutrition counseling. The motto of her event is “eat less,“ and soon a fanatical inner circle with beige names (Greg, Ben, Greta, Elsa) emerges within the small group of students who try to survive completely without food. CLUB ZERO is about the creation of a cult made with a good dose of Austrian sadism: Miss Novak first listens to the young people’s wishes - helping the environment, becoming more athletic, finding recognition - and then offers them an all-encompassing solution. Once they start, they end relationships with non-members, immerse themselves in increasingly absurd theories (not eating as a solution to world hunger) and feel superior to their unenlightened environment. What’s especially cruel is the perverting of the empowerment narrative. His mother likes to cook for him, Ben protests, suddenly weak. Miss Novak, the most compulsive of all, tells him that he has to break away from the constraints of society.

Hendrike Bake

Translation: Elinor Lewy