Trevor Newandyke is as bad a stand-up comic as he is a good pyromaniac. If he had these qualities reversed, perhaps his day-to-day life wouldn’t be as difficult as it is. The choices of Joel Potrykus, who writed, produced, directed and edited here his first feature film, are incredibly smart. Ape is not what it seems to be at first sight: the humorous tone masks the aggressiveness of a protagonist who is also a complete anarchist. The house, the bills, his work, are only accessory problems. What really matters is to set it all on fire. One day, Trevor finds the devil selling apples on a street stall and the two of them make a pact. A strange apple in exchange for a joke and behold, a Pandora’s box of chaos is opened. (M. M.)
