‘Vulcanizadora’ Teaser: Joel Potrykus Ventures Into the Wilderness for Dark Comedy for His ‘Most Personal’ and ‘Bleakest’ Film

Samantha Bergeson
·3 min read
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Beloved indie filmmaker Joel Potrykus is back onscreen in a multi-hyphenate array of roles for his latest feature, “Vulcanizadora.”

Billed as a dark comedy, “Vulcanizadora” follows two friends, played by Potrykus and Joshua Burge, who embark on a disturbing mission in the Michigan woods to fulfill a disturbing pact. After they fail, one of them must return home to deal with the surreal legal and emotional repercussions after the plan ultimately unravels. Bill Vincent and Solo Potrykus co-star.

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“Relaxer” filmmaker Joel Potrykus writes, directs, edits, and leads the feature, which is produced by Hannah Dweck, Matt Grady, Ashley Potrykus, and Theodore Schaefer, with Daniel Berger as an associate producer and Kevin Clancy co-producing. The film is shot in 16mm.

“To me, ‘Vulcanizadora’ is my most personal and my bleakest work,” Potrykus told IndieWire. “It has a weird tone that I’ve been trying to hit for a long time. It’s always great working with Joshua, and he completely understands the challenge of what we’re all doing, which should be sad, funny, and scary —oftentimes hitting all three in the same scene. Sad, funny, scary. We kept reminding ourselves of that on set, and thinking about how the audience would be kept off balance. Ideally, half the audience is laughing, half are grimacing in confusion. There are a lot of ideas and fears that I’m putting out there. Fatherhood opened up all kinds of beautiful new feelings for me, but has also me seeing humanity in a much different way. Both lead characters are voicing some of my darkest thoughts, and I’m not even sure I’m completely comfortable with talking about any of it yet.”

“Vulcanizadora” will have its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Festival on June 8 as part of the U.S. Narrative Competition. Additional U.S. Narrative Competition titles include “Adult Best Friends,” “Bitterroot,” “Griffin in Summer,” “The Unknown Country” follow-up “Jazzy” starring Lily Gladstone, “The Knife” co-written by Mark Duplass, “The Other, Gold,” “Rent Free,” “The French Italian” with Catherine Cohen, and “Sacramento” starring Kristen Stewart, Michael Cera, Maya Erskine, and writer/director Michael Angarano. Check out the full Tribeca lineup here.

“Vulcanizadora” writer/director Potrykus told IndieWire in 2018 that he opted to stay in the indie filmmaking space despite being approached by larger studios to helm sequels or franchise installments. Potrykus’ features have debuted at SXSW and other festivals throughout his career.

“I was offered all these scripts for, like, sequels to mid-level successful movies, and I was like, ‘Why?’” Potrykus said. “It’s like painting something and then handing off to someone so they can paint over it. Why spend all that time? I have a job that pays well, so I’m not making movies for money.”

The filmmaker added, “When I say I want to make little movies with my friends for under $100,000, that instantly signals to them that this is not a guy we can ever make money off. I get it. There’s nothing in it for them, and nothing in it for me.”

“Vulcanizadora” premieres at the Tribeca Festival. The film is looking for distribution. Check out the teaser and poster below.

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