Chained For Life

Directed by Aaron Schimberg

Year: 2019
Running Time: 91
Color Type: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Country: U.S.
Language: English
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Chained For Life

Cast
Jess Weixler
Adam Pearson
Charlie Korsmo
Sari Lennick
Stephen Plunkett

Crew
Directed by Aaron Schimberg


Building on the promise of his hallucinogenic debut Go Down Death, filmmaker Aaron Schimberg delivers another brilliantly oddball, acerbically funny foray into gonzo surrealism. In a deft tragicomic performance, Jess Weixler (Teeth) plays Mabel, a movie star “slumming it” in an outré art-horror film being shot in a semi-abandoned hospital. Cast opposite her is Rosenthal (Under the Skin's Adam Pearson), a gentle-natured young man with a severe facial deformity. As their relationship evolves both on and offscreen, Schimberg raises provocative questions about cinematic notions of beauty, representation, and exploitation. Tod Browning crossed with Robert Altman crossed with David Lynch only begins to describe something this startlingly original and deeply felt. – BAMcinemaFest

Reviews

“Critic’s Pick! An inventive hall of mirrors… that keeps finding ways to upend its characters’ — and viewers’ — perspectives. Odd, darkly funny and — when it means to be — a little frightening.”

– Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times

"Extraordinary. A cinematic revolution."

– Richard Brody, The New Yorker

"Humane and transgressive, an American indie of unusually big ideas and aesthetic ambition."

– Nellie Killian, Film Comment

"Bizarre and beautiful. Leaves us on thrillingly shifty ground."

– Keith Uhlich, The Hollywood Reporter

"Mesmerizing. A remarkable mind trip of a movie sure to leave audiences reeling."

– Kate Erbland, Indiewire

"Razor-sharp. Mesmerizingly close to the sensation of a waking dream."

– Calum Marsh, Village Voice

"An intoxicating whirlwind of ideas, spectacularly moving and entertaining. Chained for Life could be a defining film about representation for any group that Hollywood marginalizes."

– Andrew Todd, Birth.Movies.Death


Awards

  • Official Selection – BAMcinemaFest

  • Official Selection – Fantasia Festival

  • Best Narrative Feature – New Orleans Film Festival

  • Best Narrative Feature – Florida Film Festival

  • Official Selection – BFI London

  • Official Selection – Fantastic Fest

  • Official Selection – Berlin Critics Week

  • Official Selection – Thessaloniki Film Festival

Press Kit

Hi-Res Poster

Hi-Res Images

Trailer Embed Code

Click here to learn more at Kino Lorber Edu. Interested in bringing Chained For Life to your school or library? If you'd like to have an in-class viewing, on-campus screening, or purchase the DVD for your library's collection, please visit our site or contact Estelle Grosso at EDU@kinolorber.com or call (212) 629-6880 with your request.

To read more about Kino Lorber Edu's terms of use and ordering information, visit Kino Lorber Edu.

Jess Weixler and Adam Pearson in a scene from <i>Chained for Life</i>, courtesy Kino Lorber
Adam Pearson and Jess Weixler in a scene from <i>Chained for Life</i>, courtesy Kino Lorber
Adam Pearson and Jess Weixler in a scene from <i>Chained for Life</i>, courtesy Kino Lorber
Stephen Plunkett and Adam Pearson in a scene from <i>Chained for Life</i>, courtesy Kino Lorber
Adam Pearson in a scene from <i>Chained for Life</i>, courtesy Kino Lorber
Lucy Kaminsky and Adam Pearson in a scene from <i>Chained for Life</i>, courtesy Kino Lorber
Stephen Plunkett and Jess Weixler in a scene from <i>Chained for Life</i>, courtesy Kino Lorber

PLAYDATES

Venue City Date
Gene Siskel Film Center Chicago 1576818000December 20 - December 26, 2019
Winnipeg Film Group Winnipeg 1576126800December 12 - December 19, 2019
Philadelphia Film Society Philadelphia 1575435600December 4, 2019
Fox Theatre Toronto 1574744400November 26 - November 28, 2019
Utah Film Center Salt Lake City 1573621200November 13, 2019
Lake Worth Playhouse Lake Worth 1573189200November 8 - November 14, 2019
Mayfair Ottawa 1573189200November 8 - November 14, 2019
Oriental Theatre Milwaukee 1573189200November 8 - November 14, 2019
Alamo Drafthouse New Mission San Francisco 1572667200November 2 - November 6, 2019
Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts Grand Rapids 1572580800November 1, 2019
Sudbury Indie Cinema Sudbury 1571976000October 25 - October 31, 2019
Charlotte Film Society Charlotte 1571889600October 24, 2019
Malco Powerhouse Cinema Grill Memphis 1571803200October 23, 2019
Alamo Drafthouse El Paso El Paso 1571803200October 23, 2019
Alamo Drafthouse LaCenterra Katy 1571803200October 23, 2019
Ryder Film Series Bloomington 1571371200October 18 - October 27, 2019
Jean Cocteau Cinema Santa Fe 1570766400October 11 - October 17, 2019
Austin Film Society Austin 1570161600October 4 - October 10, 2019
SIFF Cinema Seattle 1570161600October 4 - October 6, 2019
Sie Film Center Denver 1568952000September 20 - September 26, 2019
The Broadway Theatre Saskatoon 1568952000September 20 - October 1, 2019
Landmark Nuart Theatre Los Angeles 1568347200September 13 - September 19, 2019
IFC Center New York 1568174400September 11 - September 26, 2019


Join the conversation
'@KinoLorber' on Oct. 20 2020 at 1:01pm
From B-movie legend Bert I. Gordon comes this Pathécolor cult classic about a woman released from an asylum after…' https://t.co/rfszMeI3oV'
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RT' @moviemakermag': Actor Luca Marinelli and director Pietro Marcello on how their collaboration for Martin Eden resembled a dance. Out now…
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RT' @BAM_Brooklyn': Nationtime, William Greaves’ long-lost documentary about the 1972 National Black Political Convention, narrated by Sidney…
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RT' @lee_gambin': I did the commentary for this one with Sally Christie for upcoming bluray from' @KinoLorber' ! Lots discussed from possession…
'@KinoLorber' on Oct. 20 2020 at 9:53am
RT' @PenguinClassics': “More to the point, the film is about the life of the writer, asking whether it can ever be a good in itself.”' @augiew…'
'@KinoLorber' on Oct. 20 2020 at 9:52am
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY paints a startling picture of our ERs stretched to the breaking point and exposes the extent o…' https://t.co/BQQFS1YlMX'
'@KinoLorber' on Oct. 19 2020 at 8:17pm
RT' @austinfilm': "The film is a masterpiece, so you should see it any way you can."' @vulture's' Bilge Ebiri gives another glowing review to M…
'@KinoLorber' on Oct. 19 2020 at 8:03pm
Certified Fresh' @RottenTomatoes' 🍅 Critic's Pick' @NYTimes' ☑️ Best Actor' @la_Biennale' 🎭 Platform Prize' @TIFF_NET' 🏆 M…' https://t.co/jzXbooUnV8'
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RT' @Lanre_Bakare': This William Greaves doc about the 1972 National Black Political Convention looks incredible' https://t.co/5ehbFbl886'
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