Motivational growth (2013)

Social recluse Ian has been sitting in his apartment for quite a long time, watching it (and himself) slowly decay. Finally he decides to end his life and mixes chlorine gas in his bathtub but as he tries to cover the vent he slips and falls unconscious on the floor. When he wakes up there is a large patch of talking fungi with Jeffrey Combs voice telling him that it has great plans for him. Listen to The Mold. And the great 8-bit score.

I had no idea what I was getting into here but who the hell can resist a movie about a talking mold with the voice of Jeffrey Combs? I sure as hell can't. And fortunately the whole enterprise is a winner. More like a filmed stage play the movie is set inside Ian's apartment the whole time with the actor frequently talking straight to the audience, describing his predicament and sharing his quite pessimistic views on the world with us. At one he has a long monologue while taking a huge dump (the only worthwhile act of the entire day) and ends it with him pointing into the toilet saying "This is was life is all about. Life is shit". Then The Mold appears and Ian cleans up the place, starts to wash and cuts his beard and sets his eyes upon the cute girl next door. The Mold helps as long as Ian follows The Molds instructions. And soon things start to get weirder. And funnier.

Motivational growth is a hilarious piece of dark comedy, a lot of thanks to the two main cast members, Adrian DiGiovanni and Jeffrey Combs who both do great jobs. The Mold itself is a great character, brought to life by excellent puppetry and Combs performance, always talking about itself in third person. Some of the minor cast aren't as good but never to the point of taking you out of the movie and that is about the only negative thing I have to say about this movie. Sure, it might not be for everyone but if you feel that a messy, slightly disgusting dark comedy about a manipulative patch of talking fungi sounds interesting then you need to check this out.