Growing Older Without Growing Up

Read Time:4 Minute, 49 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Vulcanizadora
–

Genre: Drama
Year Released: 2024, 2025
Runtime: 1h 25m
Director(s): Joel Potrykus
Writer(s): Joel Potrykus
Cast: Joshua Burge, Joel Potrykus, Bill Vincent, Solo Potrykus, Jaz Edwards, Sherryl Despres, Scott Ayotte, Melissa Blanchard, Dennis Grantz, G. Foster II, Michael Saunders
Where to Watch: in select cinemas, May 2, 2025

RAVING REVIEW: Wandering into the woods might sound like a harmless way to pass the time, but VULCANIZADORA proves how quickly a casual stroll can turn into something devastating. Joel Potrykus sets the trap early, presenting a loose, almost listless tone before slowly tightening the emotional noose. What starts as a story of two misfits passing the hours becomes a somber exploration of loss, guilt, and the parts of life no one prepares you for.

Derek and Marty’s bond, while playful on the surface, carries the weight of two people who have been left behind by time. At first, their interactions seem innocuous — squabbles over gear, childish jokes about nothing in particular — but beneath the humor lies a steady current of decay. Potrykus doesn’t force these revelations. Instead, he lets the audience piece together how deeply these characters have been shaped by years of regret and inertia.

VULCANIZADORA embodies an aesthetic that resonates with the inner lives of its protagonists. The 16mm cinematography feels bruised and battered, creating a texture that makes the world around them look every bit as weathered as the characters themselves. Small moments, such as a flickering lighter or the slow shuffle of a foot through dirt, are captured with a precision that underscores the passage of time and the slow erosion of the spirit. These aren't just artistic choices; they reinforce the narrative’s emotional core.

The soundtrack weaves an added layer of unease through sharp contrasts. Blistering metal tracks crash against delicate opera pieces, creating emotional collisions that mirror the characters' instability. Each shift feels less like a cue and more like a reflection of the storm brewing within Derek and Marty, never allowing the audience to settle comfortably into any one mood.

As the story unfolds, Joshua Burge seizes the emotion with a performance that eschews the self-centered view for internal collapse. Marty begins as little more than a sullen shadow, but as guilt and dread build, Burge’s portrayal grows more compelling. Outbursts don’t mark his transformation — it’s the way he shrinks into himself, the way his face closes off from the world. Burge’s work ensures that when the consequences arrive, they land with a quiet, numbing force.

While Potrykus deserves credit for avoiding cheap reveals or dramatic shortcuts, the film sometimes leans too hard on its minimalism. There are moments when conversations overexplain details that are already conveyed through action or subtext, briefly breaking the spell. A lighter touch in these scenes would have kept the tension simmering more naturally.

That said, what VULCANIZADORA gets right far outweighs where it stumbles. At its heart, the film isn't about grand mistakes or sweeping tragedies; it's about slow erosion. Derek and Marty didn’t fall into despair in one night — they drifted there over years of unspoken failures and lost battles with themselves. That subtlety makes the final revelations feel all the more heartbreaking. Their downfall isn't shocking; it’s inevitable.

Despite its grim subject matter, VULCANIZADORA finds ways to thread humor through the darkness. Derek and Marty’s absurd scavenger hunts, their hapless survival skills, and their childish arguments are funny, but that humor never feels out of place. It reminds us that these men are still trying to find meaning, however clumsily, in a world that has long since ceased to offer them opportunities. Their laughter, however awkward, becomes another form of resistance against the void.

Even with its occasional narrative lapse and minor overexplaining, VULCANIZADORA stays rooted in something genuine. It's a story about how easy it is to lose your grip when no one is watching, and how the echoes of small failures can become deafening over time. The final moments don’t deliver explosive drama; they offer something quieter, and ultimately more devastating — the realization that some lives don't end in disaster, they just quietly vanish.

By the end, what remains is not the memory of a shocking twist or some grand spectacle, but the heavy truth that most losses are gradual, and most griefs go unspoken. VULCANIZADORA captures that truth with a sharp, unflinching gaze — and once seen, it's not easily forgotten.

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[photo courtesy of OSCILLOSCOPE LABORATORIES]

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