Movie

The Joke

1968 · 50 min

A tense, low-key descent into misunderstanding, where a foolish prank curdles into a quiet, unsettling study of guilt and disbelief.

Overview: A young man is a bit drunk and decides by way of a joke to rob the local gas station to scare a girl who tends the station whom he fancies. Things take a bad turn and he's arrested for real. Nobody seems to believe he was only kidding.
How it feels: Dark, tense, melancholic and cynical. Measured and needs your attention.
About: Deception, guilt, justice, identity
Content: Mild violence and language. No gore or sexual content.
Note: Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Full breakdown

Tone: darkstrength 2 of 3
tensestrength 2 of 3
melancholicstrength 1 of 3
cynicalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: deception
guilt
justice
identity
isolation
Places: small town
workplace
Era: contemporary
Audience: adult
Form: None
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex none

All scales, 0 to 10

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Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Genres: drama
Directed by: Wim Telders
Written by: Jos Vandeloo
Starring: Sylvain Michiel, Josée Schroyens, Alfons Vaerenbergh, Marcel Van Craen, Louis Janssens, Emiel Michiel, Wim Van Dessel, Gerd De Ley
Cinematography: Wim Telders
Runtime: 50 min
Country: Belgium