Koko-di Koko-da

At its core Koko-Di Koko-Da (2019) is a story of a man and his wife, lost in maze-like wilderness in and around the dense forests of Sweden, whilst being terrorized by a small band of eccentric characters. It's also a surreal, low budget horror film about grief and unrelenting sadness.

The directing is insisting and noteworthy, and the performances are all great. Dismissing it merely as artsy, would just undermine its intention. Koko-Di Koko-Da definitely has a purpose, and an clear vision. But it is unconventional.

Gore is on a scale 2/10 Movie is 6.5/10

I'm glad I watched it.

This is an odd-ball film. I am not sure if the moral is to not let your wife pee alone in the woods or f__k the b___h and save your own hide.

But strangely i did enjoy the watch. Perhaps the film is too brainy for me and I should search out a film analysis on Youtube.

Liked: Fun creepy song, good acting, creepy antagonists.

Disliked: Ending sucked, too vague, felt artsy for the sake of artsy.

I really felt they had something here until the final act, zero conflict resolution for me. I'm all for symbolism and artsy metaphors, but here I just felt like I was trying to make connections as to why or how this was happening much too often with little success.

What if you could go back and do just one thing differently...would it be enough to change the outcome? To shift the path of your destiny?

That's the sort of question this bizarre Swedish fantasy-horror-mystery film confronts.

3 years after losing their child to a freak food poisoning accident...a young couple goes on a roadtrip to honour her memory.

Though fraught with arguments from the get-go, there hasn't been any real hitch in their plans...until he decides to pull off to camp along a secluded private road.

This throws them into some sort of twisted cyclical time loop...in which they both die a vicious death at the end.

However, at the end of each scenario they find themselves in...they always reawake to find themselves in the tent, moments before the interaction with their killers is about to take place.

And each time this happens, they are endowed with a little more knowledge...about what not to do...in the situation.

Though nothing seems to ever go their way.

Considering the structure of the plot, the film has a very odd chronology.

So it takes some attention to follow.

But it's not overly complex.

One might describe it as Groundhog Day in Hell.

A Hell somewhere between Deliverance and Wolf Creek.

They really do do a good job of inducing anxiety and frustration...as you want to see the beleaguered couple free themselves from this vicious loop of violent death.

But you can't help but wish that a little more happened...especially considering a good portion of the film is animated filler that really has no other purpose than to inflate the runtime a little.

That aside...it's a nice twist on the whole Deliverance thing.

The backwoods family was genuinely creepy.

And there were a few moments to make you jump.

It's certainly not as extreme as something like Wolf Creek- the level of ultraviolence is mild in comparison.

But it wins some points with the whole sci fi angle.

In the end...it's one of those see it...or don't...kind of films.

It's worth the time if you think it sounds interesting...but you aren't missing a masterpiece if you decide to skip it.

5 out of 10.

Koko-di Koko-da is about a young couple, a man and a woman with a deep trauma that is slowly tearing them apart. They have reached an endpoint in their relationship and something is about to give. The first thing to breaks is their reality.

On a dull camping-trip the couple encounter a troupe of three menacing and allegorical figures that suddenly emerges from the woods. Things quickly turns nightmarish. The man keeps reliving the violent encounter time after time while the woman remembers nothing of it. She in her turn experience her own nightmare, less violent but cold and lonely.

Johannes Nyholm is a very visual artist with some quirky and frankly stunningly beautiful pictures. While Koko-di Koko-da is dense and dark, it is not hopeless and I left the theater feeling quite elate. So, it's not for everyone but give it a go. All in all it's a beautiful experience.