The Idiots (2026)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Anna Dostoevsky (Aimee Lou Wood) loves her husband Fyodor (Johnny Flynn). Fyodor loves his wife, but he also loves gambling and booze. Living in self-imposed exile in Germany, Fyodor's biggest obstacle to creative progress is himself. Anna tries desperately to rid him of his procrastination so he can deliver a new novel and they can avoid destitution. Sending up the myth of the male genius, 'The Idiot(s)' is also a beautiful love story about the writer and the wife that saved him.
- Actors:
- Aimee Lou Wood, Johnny Flynn, Vicky Krieps, Christian Friedel, Raphael Roger Levy, Barbara Marten, Rainer Bock, Jürgen Heimüller, Philip Lenkowsky, Pawel Morawiak, Agnieszka Salamon, Joshua Seelenbinder, Philipp Sienkiewicz
- Directors:
- Michal Englert, Malgorzata Szumowska
- Producers:
- Lota Dascioraite, Ilya Stewart, Vladimir Zemtsov
- Writers:
- Brid Arnstein, Kasper Bajon, Michal Englert, Andrew D. Kaufman, Malgorzata Szumowska
- Aka:
- The Idiot(s)
- Genres:
- Drama
Reviews (1) of The Idiots
Shouting Into the Lens Flare - The Idiots review by griggs
I have no idea how The Idiot(s) ended up in the awards line-up at LFF.
Johnny Flynn and Aimee Lou Wood throw themselves at it with total abandon, which helps. Flynn seems to be channelling his inner Eddie Izzard, and at times it plays like an impression of Izzard's stand-up. It's a big, committed turn. The trouble is the comedy keeps confusing shouting with jokes. Why does funny so often mean loud?
Vicky Krieps gets very little to do and spends most of her screen time looking sheepish. To be fair, she looked much the same at the screening.
The performances give it a pulse, and I stayed engaged enough. Still, the story never lands an emotional punch, and almost nothing stuck once the lights came up. Passable, though not one I'd revisit.
Plenty of commitment on screen. The awards nod still baffles me.
P.S. The lens flare effect is unbearable for the first 15 minutes, then vanishes as if someone forgot it was switched on. Irritatingly, they remember again just in time for the ending.