Sylvio

A small town gorilla, bored of his job at a debt collection agency, meets unexpected fame on an obscure local TV show and ends up feeling trapped in his persona.

UK Premiere of this charming, offbeat feature.

A small town gorilla, bored of his job at a debt collection agency, meets unexpected fame on an obscure local TV show and ends up feeling trapped in his persona. A quirky character created for the late video sharing platform Vine takes to the big screen in the first feature by Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney. Minimalist yet very imaginative, the film manages to turn an absurd joke (“an ordinary gorilla trying to live a simple life”) into a touching comedy about loneliness, show business, fulfilment (and somehow about a puppet called Herbert). With its offbeat humour and its genuine tenderness for its characters, Sylvio could well be a cult film in the making.