// Presented as part of June’s Filmatique Talents II Series //

Milos Mitrovic & Fabian Velasco / 2019, Slamdance, Tallinn, Vancouver / 78'

A man pulls over on the side of the road. The gas station restroom is occupied—nature is calling, so he sets off into the surrounding forest, where he encounters two stoners making love by a river. Returning to his unhappy marriage, he suspects his wife is cheating on him. Meanwhile, a comedian performs local gigs, but none of her jokes land; one day she falls ill, and a social worker becomes her sole companion. On the other side of town, a young man plays video games all day, indifferent to his mother's turmoil.

Steeped in bleak, bone-dry humor, Tapeworm burrows into the lives of so-called "losers" to reveal the banality and emptiness of modern life. Milos Mitrovic and Fabian Velasco's debut film premiered at Vancouver, Tallinn Black Nights, and Slamdance.