Set in the south of England, this self-reflexive instance of cinematic faction follows five young adults as they travel through an hour-long narrative that offers up visions of what it is like to have autism: how it can motivate thoughts and feelings, inform dreams and creativity, as well as affect interpersonal behaviour and social positioning.
Drawing on pop cultural artefacts such as George A. Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’, Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’, Richard Kelly’s ‘Donnie Darko’ and Monty Python’s ‘The Ministry of Silly Walks’, the film constructs and sustains a mediated air of infoxication, disconnection and alienation throughout.
The effect such a stifling atmosphere can have upon the self is exemplified by the introduction of the character of ‘Shapeshifter’, played by An(dre)a Spisto. Out of place at a desk in their office and, later, out of sync on a treadmill at their gym, ‘Shapeshifter’ returns to the dark safety of their empty home, wronged and wired. Here they soon morph into their inner spirit animal, crawling, swimming and growling over the floor and furniture, transforming the mundane into something more natural and special, somewhere where they feel they belong.
Indeed, as the film continues to illustrate how social settings and social conformity can overcrowd and overwhelm the sensitivities of those on the autistic spectrum, it gradually becomes reminiscent of the dystopian sci-fi dramas screened by the BBC in the early 1980s. In turn, ‘The Stimming Pool’ seems to be quite aware that such dramas themselves were influenced by, for example, the post-apocalyptic premises of Chris Marker’s ‘La Jetée’ and Patrick McGoohan’s ‘The Prisoner’ from the 1960s.
Shot on 16mm by Gregory Oke, this film can be understood to be a series of intimate performative portraits which bristle with emotional intensity, escapist ideas and aesthetic awkwardness in their surreal exploration and celebration of human difference.
It is highly recommended.
Brett Gregory is an award-winning filmmaker based in Greater Manchester who is currently producing a documentary called ‘Autism and the Arts: Poetry with Peter Street’.
