CINEMANIA: Idling

When Frank’s car breaks down in a bleak winter landscape, a mechanic named Barry comes to his aid. Hoping to repair the car, the two men take it into a labyrinthine underground parking garage governed by strange rules, where other unfortunate souls seem trapped. In this maze of concrete and scrap metal, time stretches out, and the prospect of leaving suddenly feels remote, even unimaginable. Blending philosophical reflection with a wryly offbeat postapocalyptic comedy, Idling is the second live action feature from Bulgarian Canadian filmmaker Theodore Ushev, starring Dominique Pinon (The city of lost children, Amélie) and Antoine-Olivier Pilon (Mommy).