The Barefoot Emperor

Directed by Jessica Woodworth and Peter Brosens, The Barefoot Emperor follows Belgian King Nicolas III (Peter Van den Begin) as he and his team are left stranded on an oddball island run by Udo Kier’s Otto Kroll – with the situation taking on a whole new dimension after the Europe Union inexplicably crumbles and Nicolas is named the emperor of the new continent that eventually emerges. There’s certainly no denying that Woodworth and Brosens have delivered a unique premise and setup, and it’s apparent, as well, that the filmmakers have done a solid job of establishing the quirky central characters. And although the rapport between Nicolas and his underlings is amusing enough, The Barefoot Emperor progresses into an increasingly meandering midsection devoid of concrete elements worth embracing or connecting with (and it doesn’t help, certainly, that something seems to have gotten lost in translation in terms of the picture’s sense of humor). The third act’s shift towards the serious doesn’t fare nearly as well as Woodworth and Brosens have surely intended, while the absurdist nature of the movie’s final few minutes is more tedious than anything else – which effectively cements The Barefoot Emperor’s place as a truly strange little misfire.

*1/2 out of ****