Warning: this movie options quickly flashing photos that may be distressing to photosensitive viewers.
Whereas the very phrase ‘rot’ may give rise to revulsion – maybe the reminiscence of a mildewed fruit or the pungent stench of a past-its-prime reduce of fish – the processes it describes typically yield scrumptious outcomes. Certainly, most of the world’s hottest meals, from beer and bread to kimchi and cheese, are born of chemical conversions that will, in different contexts, represent a meals ‘going unhealthy’. With their quick movie Wrought (2022), the Canadian filmmakers Joel Penner and Anna Sigrithur deploy a stunning collection of timelapse sequences to render the usually hidden work of microbes as a visible feast. In doing so, the duo invite us to think about how natural transformation could cause us to odor and style with delight, or flip away in disgust.
