Mr. and Mrs. Stodola

A pungently toxic romance between a village Lady Macbeth and the submissive guy next door, who in terms of type is a reference to the social realism that I miss here. Despite being monsters, these two characters have a surprising number of layers and if one approaches them from a cynical distance, Mr. and Mrs. Stodola is actually, and primarily, a story about the turbulent marriage of a dominant woman and a man who devotedly loves her, but cannot handle her. Yes, we find ourselves treading on the ethically thin ice of romanticising unacceptable characters, but there is nothing cheap in this empathy, because it is derived from a good character study and precise directing. Furthermore, the dramaturgical switch to procedural description of the murders in the last third of the film works superbly as a contrast to the “romantic storyline”. Lucie Žáčková’s performance is one of the best seen here since the revolution and the effective chemistry between her and the peculiarly soft Jan Hájek is the driving force of the film as a whole. Mr. and Mr. Stodola is the Czech answer to Dahmer and, in my opinion, the best domestic film in a long time. (27/02/2024)

I was definitely expecting a stronger cinematic experience from Mr. and Ms. Stodola, as the story of probably the most famous pair of serial killers had quite dense material, but I still don't regret my visit to the cinema. The film is first and foremost a relationship drama, with the Lady Macbeth-like Dana portrayed as the manipulative brains behind all the horrific acts, while Jaroslav is more of a bumbling puppet and the hands that commit the acts. The criminal level plays more of a second fiddle – here I was a bit surprised at first that the murders took place as if behind the curtain, but they rectify this at the end (not that I seek explicit violence in films, but here it gave me pause at first). Better three stars! (28/03/2024)