KUSO: A Fetish For The Disgusting

I remember when I first watched Lars Von Trier‘s Antichrist. It was shocking, horrifying, and above all, pretty disgusting. It vaguely mixed sexual imagery with carnage and gore but still had something to say about women’s sexuality. I even remember watching Human Centipede 3, which could be in the same realm as Flying Lotus‘ directorial debut. Kuso may be the more disgusting of the three. It takes it to a whole other level of disgusting, where it might as well be unwatchable. It’s disgusting without ever being funny, it fetishizes the grossest possible things, and above all, it’s pretty pointless.

Kuso plays out like a collection of short stories, where we are greeted to the messed up lives of a handful of people after an earthquake in Los Angeles. Each story is a challenge in whether or not you can keep your eyes on the screen.

Grossly Stylish And Disturbingly Rhythmic

While Flying Lotus has created probably the most disgusting movie ever made, Kuso has an undeniable style to it capable of easing down the gross sequences you are witnessing. Lotus‘s direction is of a passionate nature and his visuals, aside from the gross-out imageries, are quite good. The world created is a colorful array best described as a dream gone wrong, pulling from Cronenberg and Lynch.

However, his style is the most surprising aspect. Lotus‘s ability to create a rhythm for his story adds a dimension to his otherwise empty film. All of his short stories follow a kind of hip-hop beat reminiscent of a music video. And while there isn’t as much music as I was expecting, Kuso still feels like an overlong music video that nobody would ever want to see playing on MTV.

But, even with all that style, it’s impossible to indulge in it while bodily fluids are being used in obnoxious ways. There’s everything from eating vomit to rubbing sperm on someone’s face and eventually licking it off in a closeup French kiss; in other words, it takes it too far. While the world of Kuso has no beautiful people walking in the streets, it’s far from a breath of fresh air. David Firth and his costars are all covered in cysts, pimples, and herpes around their mouths trying too hard to be unattractive. Again, it’s a case of trying too hard.

A String Of Messed-Up Ideas

Kuso could have been a cult film with its messed up followers, but its story is too incoherent to be engaging. Its setup of 4 loosely related stories are all incomplete by the end of the film. Intercut between them are trippy animated sequences that are pretty to look at but don’t fit in the larger picture. David Firth‘s Salad Fingers is so obviously an influence in its character design and world, but Firth‘s YouTube series is far superior regarding the story. It has character development, world building, and a mysteriousness to it that Kuso is never able to achieve.

By the end, it just feels like a series of ideas that have no relation other than their experience of the earthquake. You never once care about the characters on screen both because of their repellent look and their lack of exploration. Even on a deeper meaning, Kuso has nothing to say about its imagery or its characters. It seems pretty pointless as an experimental film or even just as a plain movie. It’s that kind of film that has ulterior motives.

New Kind Of Fetish?

The most off-putting elements of Kuso comes from its sexual and fetishizing of the disgusting. Lotus took it to a whole other level when he made his actors engage in some bizarre fetish-like sexual actions. If having a blow j*b done by a big talking pimple on the neck of his girlfriend is not part of Flying Lotus‘ sexual fantasies, then why even make this movie. It’s at those level where Kuso feels more like an exploration of Lotus‘ fetishes and sexual indulgences than it does a theatrical movie. I’m not aware of any sort of groups that would like this film, but with the internet, you never know. Maybe Lotus has given a pornographic movie to a group of individuals with a fetish for this type of thing.

Or, perhaps, it’s not a fetish but a kind of humor that is underrepresented in the media. Maybe intense sexual gross-out humor is an unknown sub-genre of comedy. Maybe it’s a new type of humor that will be hilarious with time, and Lotus will be its creator. However, I fail to see how fuzzy creatures watching needles get gruesomely injected into a man’s penis is or will ever be comedy gold. If it ever does, I hope I’m 6 feet under the ground by then.

Kuso: Conclusion

All I know is that for now, apart from its style, Kuso has nothing to offer for cinephiles or indie lovers. It’s over the top revolting and extremely fetishized with no story or interesting characters to back it up. This bizarre experimental film doesn’t engage on a deeper level like the very films it takes inspiration of. It will no doubt find its audience when it finally becomes available to the deep dark web. While I can’t see any enjoyment of watching such a film, if 2017 has taught me anything, it’s that the norm can easily be trumped.

What do you think of Flying Lotus’ Kuso? Is it a misunderstood masterpiece or just a gateway for a new kind of fetish?

Kuso was released on July 21st in the US, and it’s available on Shudder.