It’s increasingly hard these days to tell what's genuine from what isn’t—with all the unreliable AI, fake news, and self-promotional social media—and it feels like we might be entering a new kind of unsettling world. This has implications not just for how we understand existence but also for how we experience and react to it; some could even see these circumstances as an existential nightmare. That’s certainly the situation for Matthias (Albrecht Schuch), who works for MyCompanion, a Vienna-based company that provides clients with individuals to act as impersonators or substitutes—for any purpose they need. He's become so skilled at his job that he's in high demand. However, his proficiency has led him to lose track of himself, unsure where his work ends and his own reality begins, a confusion that comes with repercussions. For example, it’s negatively affected his relationship with his girlfriend, Sophia (Julia Franz Richter), who says she doesn’t recognize him anymore. On top of that, Matthias finds himself involved in increasingly complicated cases, such as helping a bullied wife (Maria Hofstätter) learn how to argue more effectively with her controlling husband (Branko Samarovski), and providing a wealthy older man (Tilo Nest) with someone to pose as his estranged son at a lavish birthday party—an event with a hidden agenda. As the protagonist desperately tries to understand who he really is and deal with these frustrating circumstances, he feels lost, often unable to explain himself. He also becomes an unwitting target of speculation, ridicule, and blame from people outside the situation, including those who misinterpret events through their own distorted and shallow perspectives—they’re like peacocks, as one character puts it. Writer-director Bernhard Wenger explores these bewildering scenarios with dry wit and humorous situations, showing rather than telling what drives his story forward. Yet, there's a serious tone underlying the humor, offering insightful observations about the blurring of reality and fantasy, along with sharp criticisms of social media toxicity and the tendency to judge others harshly. The filmmaker also demonstrates how these questionable, seemingly unrelated elements ultimately connect, leaving Matthias (and the rest of us) with an unpleasant new way of existing that makes us question our nature and what we can believe about our sense of reality. “Peacock” is a clever and skillfully made first feature from this talented filmmaker, one that brings to mind inventive films like Ruben Östlund’s "The Square" (2017). It's a film that entertains, informs, and inspires—if we allow ourselves the possibility. And in today’s world, we need to do that if we want to avoid consequences that could be too disturbing to contemplate.

Source on TMDB