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I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Absolutely Fantastic

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

When I first saw the Trailer of Strange Factories I instantly wanted to see the whole film. Luckily I was able to visit London around the time when FoolishPeople screened the film at the Cinema Museum. What a perfect location. All events with FoolishPeople are always a surprise to me and they create unforgetable moments. I love that you never know where their stories will take you within. And I love that the film is held in black and white, the dark environment and the landscape. the mysterious and unknown. Mixed with the live part it has been an exciting experience. Every cast member lived their roles. We were guided through the Cinema Museum to explore the characters stories in a different way. Music and sound effects were perfectly chosen and merged with the film and the live experience. A very well created piece of art. It is definitely more of an art film experience to watch Strange Factories. For myself I can say I had an amazing evening and the film is definitely a creation worth watching. I would go see it again! FoolishPeople deserve more notice and I wish them the best of luck for their future projects and films. Can't wait to see what more is to come. A fan from Germany Mirjam

STRANGE FACTORIES is a typical black and white indie arthouse movie that straddles genres. It's been made on a tiny budget and consists of a plot involving a writer journeying through a mysterious rural landscape. He encounters oddball characters en route and finds a conspiracy of sorts. This feels much like a student film with an extended, overlong running time. It might have been interesting at ten minutes but at this length it's just a bore. There's some nice imagery here but that's about it.

Some commentators seem to find the fact that John Harrigan wears so many hats in this production problematic. Because of the particulars of this film I find this critique problematic. The film's mysterious 'Stronheim' is undoubtedly a hat tip to the auteur Erich von Stroheim. The way von Stroheim's idiosyncratic creative process dominated his films is a hallmark of his brilliance even if at times it was arguably gratuitous.Strange Factories is a film about the process of creation, these moments of faux-gratuitousness are deliberate stylistic choices important to the theme of the film and not things that should have been left out. The initial introduction to the Society Of Vandals serves to underscore this point early on. To be clear I'm not calling anybody a philistine, when I was a young man there were books, paintings and films which I did not appreciate because of my lack of exposure to and experience with those art forms. It's no sin to be ignorant, only to be willfully so. What I do find troubling in two of these reviews is that while acknowledging they were attending an immersive (read participatory) event, each in their own refused to participate. I was reminded of Foolish People's 2007 production of Dead Language, where some in the audience thought it was terribly clever to point out a fictional drug in that story handed out to the audience in the form of a sugar pill was a "sham". These tangible invitations into the narrative are not part of a Vegas illusionists act where part of the fun is figuring out the con. When you don't get something out of an experience because you refuse to engage it you are the problem, not the film. There's nothing wrong with enjoying a film like Teen wolf (as one reviewer seems to) but not every film is meant to be consumed in that way. Disliking a film because it's not the film you wanted to watch is not only irrelevant as a piece of criticism, it's the intellectual equivalent of a tantrum.I screened Strange Factories in my home for an audience chosen specifically because they were not as immersed in the arts as I am, and who were also unfamiliar with Foolish People's work, because I was interested in seeing how this film would be received by an audience that wasn't primed for the experience Strange Factories advertised. I must confess I was skeptical that FP could achieve with film what they do with live theater. The only thing my audience was told about the film was that they should not be expecting the kind of film they are used to experiencing, and that they should feel free to focus on those things in the film that grabbed them and to not worry about "getting it" on their first viewing. I was correct in thinking the bias I brought would dramatically impact my experience. For example my body started mimicking ticks I have experienced when experimenting with amanita muscaria in my younger days: excessive salivation, compulsive rubbing of the gums, and twitching. I also experienced mild auditory and visual hallucinations. The rest of the group did not experience these things. They all had a very unique experience of the film never the less. Some were very focused on The Society Of Vandals, others on Punch or some other character. There was confusion on their part, and on mine, I don't pretend to have instantly understood everything, it is after all a very dense film. I've watched it five times now and am still finding new experiences. That density however is necessary not an example of pretension or slavishness to a single vision. Harrigan is on record as having gone through several screenplays before arriving at Strange Factories. My audience is proof of how this payed off. Each experienced the film in their own way and in talking about it afterward were delighted to see how each of them had missed something the others had not. The film's density is how immersive and audience specific experience is created.This is a monumental achievement, not a failing, considering that unlike live theater every viewer will technically witness an identical performance. Not to say the film is flawless: certain scenes are lit very darkly, the note and contract handed to Victor are difficult to read, some dialog is difficult to ascertain, etc. I must confess I found it difficult at first to ascertain whether these were flaws in the physical process of the film, or problematic style choices. In trying to suss that out I re-watched those scenes repeatedly. This forced me to engage more actively with the film, which is thematically relevant. However, rewarding as the process was, it is a high bar to set for the average viewer. I do think of Joyce's 'Finnegans Wake.' Though an unapologetically difficult read, Joyce's choices were important both to his narrative, and as a challenge to the constraints of the modern novel. Given how vast and meticulous this film is both on its own and as part of a larger transmedia experience I'd conclude, however imperfect, these aspects of Strange Factories are intentional, worth hurdling, and present important challenges to a modern cinema totally colonized by the Hollywood formula. I don't mean to draw a 1:1 comparison between Joyce and Harrigan, either. Finnegan's wake in many respects represents a pinnacle, whereas I suspect that Harrigan's best film work is yet to come.I never fault people who don't find 'Finnegans Wake' rewarding, provided they've done due diligence with the novel,likewise I wouldn't automatically fault those who, take similar issue with Strange Factories. This conflict between experimentation, and accessibility is one many artists struggle with. Even so, Strange Factories is impressive and important. A difficult piece of cinema, to be sure, but as Victor notes in the film, some stories are the product of difficult births.

I was not in a theater so I can't write about the "immersive" experience: this lines are just about the film itself. I think that a clear narrative structure was not a goal, here. Keeping straight to the meaning is the main duty of a director. Strange Factories is a surreal film so, in my opinion, the purpose was driving the audience to a given feeling and, more or less, a given state of mind. For me, being a very low budget (first) feature film, the final result has been achieved. A few notes on the product. Acting: yes, many actors and sometimes actresses wear a mask but I found their acting effective for the surreal mission. Cinematography: in my humble opinion, even though they shot in digital, black&white was mandatory for the purpose of this feature... there are a few out of focus or dark scenes but, overall, it works. Editing: it flows and that counts, of course. The "surrealism" is almost reached with acting, directing and music, just a little using editing. Music/Sound: yes, they are essential to reach a given state of mind and they get it. Do they really need a huge name like Mozart? I don't think so: it does not need extra power from a giant, it could work by itself.