In a world where everything seems perfectly curated and “just so”, how easy is it to be yourself? In fact, can anyone truly say they are absolutely always being their genuine, authentic self? What happens if you don’t know who you are, underneath it all? These are just some of the questions that writer / director Bernhard Wenger poses with his feature length debut, Peacock.
At the heart of this black comedy cringe-fest is Matthias (All Quiet on the Western Front’s Albrecht Schuch), a young man who works for My Companion. In his role, he is hired out by people from all walks of life for any number of reasons. A woman wants to learn to argue with her husband; a man would like to present himself as part of a loving couple for the purposes of securing an apartment; a date for the opera is needed; a loving son should return to wish his father happy birthday in a grand speech. And while he is being all of these things to all of these people, Matthias is having an identity crisis.
“You don’t seem real anymore,” his girlfriend Sophie notes. “I can’t feel the real you.” Indeed, Matthias’ picture perfect apartment comprises a walk-in wardrobe full of row upon row of cardboard-brown suit bags and shoe boxes. It’s the world’s saddest theatre dressing room. Vienna is a pastel coloured backdrop of cobbled streets and historic architecture but his apartment is devoid of personality. Matthias is often framed beautifully in opulent settings, like a work of art in the centre of the screen. But what we are really being shown is a man staring into the middle-distance, questioning his very existence, whilst life bustles on around him.
Elevator music populates several scenes, as inoffensive and unimposing as Matthias himself. A peacock – stunning to look at in all its feathered glory – squawks what sounds like an ungainly cry for help. They’re the perfect metaphors for our leading man and his existentialist crisis.
If you enjoyed squirming in your seat at the likes of Ernst De Geer’s The Hypnosis, this is going to be the film for you. Matthias’ life, for the most part, is made up of one excruciating incident after the other. We, as viewers, probably should look away from the car crash that is unfolding but, of course, we cannot.
Two separate break up / rejection scenes are punctuated by a mix up about a disabled parking spot or the sobbing of a nearby neighbour. Matthias screams “play a happy song” at his digital assistant – which doesn’t understand his command – whilst he sobs on his bed. The visual of him having sex (in the background of the shot) is coupled with audio of his dog licking its balls in the foreground. An attempt to leave a physical theatre performance is marred by a man in crutches and a tightly packed row. Even the sight of him fishing his dog’s lifeless corpse from his pool is somewhat humorous, thanks to the sopping wet thud it makes when it hits the patio. Wenger’s camera delights in the absurdity of it all, always lingering just a fraction longer than it needs to so that we get to revel with him.
Albrecht Schuch is an absolute delight in the lead role. So much of his world consists of artifice, with his exasperation stemming from disillusionment. In the social media age, it’s the perfect story. His ultimate unravelling (quite literally) is mistaken for “powerful” performance art. No wonder he’s had enough of the world around him. In his companion work, we see him polished, articulate, warm and intelligent. As the opening scenes roll on, it is hard to get a distinct sense of where Matthias ends and the companion begins, triggering his personal crisis. His despair is palpable, yet always somehow darkly humorous, and his flair for physical comedy is a joy to watch. There are no winks to camera or nudges to the audience, he is playing out this full, embarrassing episode entirely straight. And it’s a marvel to behold.
Peacock is a film that is bound to make you cringe and laugh in equal measure. Writer / director Bernhard Wenger clearly wants us to languish alongside his leading man and allows us ample opportunity to do so. Albrecht Schuch gives a fantastically interesting performance – we don’t know if we should feel sorry for Matthias or be looking away in mutual embarrassment.
A thoroughly engaging film.
Peacock is screening at the Glasgow Film Festival 2025 as part of the Country Focus: Austria. Get your tickets here.
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