Romanos

In a future dystopian world, two unemployed men, worn down by the world in which they live, are paid to dress up as Roman soldiers to satisfy the sexual fantasies of an odd and equally worn out selection of clients.

I seem to gravitate towards the unusual, the weird, the 'what is this I'm watching?' kind of productions. And this is definitely ticking all of those boxes. It's my kind of weird, and there are certain elements which made it stand out for me.

The budget for the whole production is listed as $40,000, which seems wholly accurate. Rather than pretend they had more, there are model railway sets and papier mache(?) dioramas which intentionally say 'this is the cheap look we were looking for'. They only add to the strange look of the piece. Nothing is disguised with glitter. Couldn't afford real cars, used toy cars instead.

There are 8 episodes, very short episodes, which again adds to the strangeness. One feature-length movie wouldn't work. But Romanos draws you in for 10 minutes, twists your brain, and then spits you back out again thinking 'what was that?', wanting the next chunk of madness.

Despite the subject matter, don't look here for any level of sexual gratification. The whole point is that the sex is dull, both for the people providing it and the people who pay for it. But their interactions are invariably quirky and satisfyingly oddball.

I liked it. I thoroughly enjoyed its weirdness. Don't blame anyone if you don't like it too - perhaps it's just not for you.