Koko-di Koko-da

Johannes Nyholm follows up his masterful debut, 2016’s The Giant, with this often inexplicable yet increasingly captivating endeavor, which follows a couple (Leif Edlund’s Tobias and Ylva Gallon’s Elin) as they attempt to get their relationship back on track by embarking on a camping trip in the desolate woods – with complications ensuing after a trio of oddball figures make their presence known. Director Nyholm announces his decidedly avant-garde sensibilities right from the get-go, as Koko-di Koko-da opens with a striking (if entirely baffling) sequence that seemingly sets the stage for a broadly-conceived (and decidedly experimental) endeavor – with Nyholm instead offering up a low-key first act revolving around the protagonists’ attempts at overcoming a profound loss. It’s only as the aforementioned oddball figures enter the proceedings that Koko-di Koko-da begins its transformation into a progressively singular piece of work, and although the midsection is, by design, a little on the repetitive side, Nyholm peppers the proceedings with captivating interludes that pave the way for a frequently spellbinding second half. (This is certainly never more true than of an absolutely mesmerizing, partially-animated stretch around the movie’s halfway mark.) The end result is an impressively unique effort that ultimately forces the viewer to ponder exactly what it all means, and it’s apparent, certainly, that Nyholm has completely cemented his place as one of world cinema’s most promising new filmmakers.

***1/2 out of ****