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Short film
Poster for The Loner

The Loner

1980 · 30 min

A queasy, hypnotic descent into a hostile dreamscape, equal parts macabre and deadpan funny, demanding surrender to its warped logic.

Directed by
Tony Oursler
Genres
Fantasy
Overview
The Loner is a psychosexual journey through the dark landscapes of Oursler's insular narrative universe. The tape's paranoid, tormented protagonist — who is represented by such objects as a spoon and a water-filled sack — wanders through a hostile dreamspace of macabre obsessions and sexual alienation. Incredibly, Oursler renders this unlikely anti-hero as a sympathetic, totally believable "character." The artist's somnambulant, pun-laden narration and astonishing visual inventiveness add black humor to the surreal proceedings; for example, a bar scene is populated by an outrageous "cast" of found-object grotesques. Oursler's classic happy ending, in which The Loner "would live a wonderful life," rings with an ironic desperation.
How it feels
Dark, eerie, absurd and satirical. Slow-burning and demanding.
About
Isolation, obsession, identity, sexuality
Content
Strong sexual content. Mild violence and language. No gore.
Note
Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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In the USNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Directed by
Tony Oursler
Genres
Fantasy
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Full breakdown
Tone
  • darkstrength 3 of 3
  • eeriestrength 3 of 3
  • absurdstrength 2 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Places
None
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex strong
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror5
Humour4
Realism1
Romance1
Tension6
Darkness8
Complexity9
Emotional weight6

Where to watch in the US

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Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
fantasy
Directed by
Tony Oursler
Runtime
30 min
Country
United States of America

TMDB