To Dust (2018) User Reviews

Not For the Faint of Heart

[larrys3 · 5/10 · 8 May 2019]

When the R rating for this film declares disturbing images they're not kidding. The movie is a dark, absurd, and morbid comedy, as a Hasidic cantor (Geza Rohrig) becomes obsessed with trying to find out how long it will take his recently deceased wife's remains to decompose into dust so that her spirit can be free.

He will eventually team up with a reluctant community college science professor (Matthew Broderick) to try and get some answers. They will employ some highly bizarre and weird techniques to try and accomplish this.

I found most of the intended deadpan humor didn't quite work here, but as the film progressed I did find some of it darkly funny, like the scene with the security guard (Natalie E. Carter) at the Tennessee body farm.

Overall, after reading so many glowing reviews from pro critics I came away disappointed with this movie. It's not an easy watch for sure, but it also was unlike anything I can recall seeing on screen before.

Dark (if not black) Jewish comedy is uneven but at times brilliant

[paul-allaer · 5/10 · 16 March 2019]

"To Dust" (2018 release; 91 min.) brings the story of Shmuel, an Orthodox Jew. As the movie opens, Shmuel is at the hospital, where his wife just has passed away unexpectedly. Shmuel is bewildered and in deep grief. At night he has nightmares about what becomes of the body of his wife. He becomes obsessed with that, and by accident befriend Albert, a science professor at the local community college. Albert explains to Shmuel what becomes of a person's decaying body by showing the analogy of a decaying pig's body... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is one weird little movie. What starts out as a movie about grieving for a lost loved one, gradually evolves into something different altogether: a dark, if not black, comedy about decaying bodies, both of the human and of the animal kind, yeah... While the initial third of the movie is mostly so(m)ber and even macabre, the last hour is at times laugh-out-loud funny. The biggest surprise for me was the outstanding and all around charming performance from Matthew Broderick as the community college science professor who unexpectedly (but not unwillingly) becomes tangled up in the life of the grieving Orthodox Jew, leading to situations he probably never imagined possible. In that sense, the movie is a bizarre "buddy movie", pairing the Orthodox Jew to this divorced college professor. Check out the scenes as they go on the road to Knoxville, TN to check out a "body farm" (yea, it's kinda like that level of weirdness). Frankly, I'm amazed this movie even got made (and surely the fact that Broderick stars was the deciding factor in that). This little movie is way out there, and surely not for everyone. In the end, I found it uneven but at times brilliant.

"To Dust" premiered at last year's Tribeca film festival (yes, a year ago) and showed up out of the blue in the theater this weekend. I just had to check it out. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended by exactly 10 people, myself included, of which 2 couples left after about 20 min. and didn't return... If you are in the mood for a dark Jewish comedy that is "out there", I'd readily suggest you give this a chance, be it at the theater (not very likely), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

Unlike anything else you'll see in this (or most) year(s)

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 18 February 2019]

I can safely say To Dust is... Quite unlike most movie - or maybe any movie - about grief I can think of... uh... Maybe it's reverse Hassidic Frankenstein? Instead of resurrecting a body to life it's bringing the body to get into the Earth quicker?! This is followed to some wonderfully bizarre extremes.

The main character is a bit hard to really get into due to his... Ways about him, which is being stubborn and prickly and totally set in his mindset regarding the body and the soul (not a slight on the actor, he does what hes asked to do), and Broderick acts his Brodericky self off. It's a truly interesting independent film dramedy that doesn't compromise really, which is a strength and a detriment. It's a view into a hermetically sealed world done with humor, even if it's hit or miss, and genuine pathos.

Thank you for getting into producing, Ron Perlman!

Rilliant,Touching, Effing Real

[larahart-613-732915 · 12 May 2019]

Jewish or not...it doesn't matter. I'm Jewish, but not Hasidic. This grabbed me at the core as a human. Such a beautiful movie. I wish they ended it with more answers. Both Broderick and Rohrig did SUPERB jobs bringing their characters to light. If only they could do another movie together!!!

Realistically Sadly Humorous

[westsideschl · 7/10 · 25 May 2019]

Would have gotten nine stars except the characterization of the C.C. prof was more comical than realistic, and any half way adequate collegiate anthropology or forensic taphonomy dept. or natural history museum could have given direction to questions of decomposition. Anyway, sort-of-science meets orthodox Jew (actually an Hasidic cantor) in this at times amusing, at times heartfelt devotion, journey & discovery of soulful death. The pig (other animals have also been time lapsed filmed) cycle of returning nutrients to the earth is a film classic which brings up the question of the effects of embalming chemicals & casket materials.

Not quite enough...

[ko-la · 2/10 · 7 March 2019]

The writing and film making just aren't quick enough. It can't overcome character problems and bumpy storytelling.

Oh the mediocraty of democracy

[maniort · 8/10 · 9 May 2019]

Sometimes I wish that there was a standardized IQ test prior to leaving web reviews. Sometimes the subject of the review is the test itself.

This is a beautifully shot, wonderfully written and acted, quirky dramedy about an interesting subject. Knowing a little about Jewish culture helps but isn't necessary. Almost every line Broderick delivers is funny - he hasn't lost any of his 80s charm.

The pacing and humor will challenge those born after 1983.

"You know what this means?... It means Harold is ahead"

guess what she's dead

[raff-stapp · 1/10 · 19 February 2019]

She dies and the whole movie is about what happens after? Same thing that happens to everything that dies.

Unique film

[Nagfilms · 9/10 · 26 July 2018]

'To Dust', is a dark comedy starring Geza Rohrig (Schmuel) and Matthew Broderick (Albert) and was featured at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. It follows the quest of Orthodox Jew Schmuel to find out what actually happens to the physical body of his wife, who has recently died of cancer. Although cancer is used in many films, the 'eating one up from inside' description fits well here as Schmuel is being 'eaten up' by the conflict of his religious belief of what happens to his wife's soul, his love and longing for his wife, and the scientific facts of what happens to the physical body after death. He ventures out of his Orthodox rules and enlists the help of Community College Biology Professor Albert to explore this bodily mystery. What follows is a series of dark but funny scenes between the two men that ultimately reveal the core tenants of the movie-love, peace of mind, and acceptance. A very unique film with great performances that I hope will find the light of your local theaters.

Misunderstood

[ladd_mangrum · 1/10 · 13 February 2019]

Dark and repetitive story line that develops slow. Could be better. I think the creators do not understand reality of Jewish faith. I found myself while watching wishing most scenes are made differently.

I love it !

[Kirpianuscus · 7 June 2020]

I love it for many reasons. From the acting to the humor. But, especially , for idea. Yes, a not very inspired used idea but real good if the experience of the lost of loved one is not so far by you. No doubts, the film could be better. But it is a decent one and the art to not be victim of cliches to not propose easy solutions is real meritorry. A clash between lives of two isolated men . And the fair end of this story of doubts, faith and friendship. Short, just good job.

One of the worst films I've seen. Was this a joke?

[joemovie-20000 · 1/10 · 23 April 2018]

I saw this in NY at Tribeca. Do not watch this film. I wish there was a way of giving it zero stars because if there ever was a zero star film this is the one. It starts off slow and keeps going until the end when believe it or not you will be wondering what the story had to do with anything. The comedy is not funny. The tragedy is bizarre and ineffective. It must be close to the worst film ever made, and I have watched some poor films in my time but this stands head and shoulders beyond them all. I feel I had a moral obligation to write something so if only one person reads this and does not watch it I have done my good deed for the year. The plot was so poor that it is hard to write ten lines about it. The supporting actors are just so predictable and two-dimensional and the story painfully without direction. Sadly, I don't think it was intended to be a joke.

Hassidic widower needs to determine state of wife's corpse.

[maurice_yacowar · 9/10 · 3 July 2018]

This wildly inventive black comedy declares its religious concerns in its three opening quotations. First two quotes share the screen: (i) the Kohelet assurance that upon death our body returns to its origin in dust and our spirit to God who gave it; (ii) Jethro Tull's "God is an overwhelming responsibility." The third - in response - is the framing Tom Waits ballad "Blow Wind Blow." Even apart from its valedictory lyrics, his rasping, indeed gravelly, voice is an emblem of the coarsened life due our rocky, dust-based corporeality. In short, the film is a Talmudic examination of the complex tension between body and soul, but in the contemporary vernacular: a Jethro Tull-mudic meditation. For the "overwhelming responsibility" of God necessarily falls upon man. "Schmuel" (or Samuel) means "he who hears God." Upstate New York Hassidic cantor Schmuel has trouble dealing with his wife Rivkah's death from cancer. He can't even make the ritual incision into his jacket lapel. Mainly he has nightmares about his wife's decaying corpse. He sees her big toe explode. He is tormented by the suffering she must be feeling. Thirty days later, he can't end his mourning period. So he launches a pseudo-scientific investigation into the process of a body's decay. That is, he has lost the visceral belief that her true spiritual nature has escaped her body. In a comic replay of the theme, his two young sons believe their distracted father has been possessed by a dybbuk (who entered through his big toe). They try to exorcise the demon. On both levels the characters are concerned with the interconnection of the physical and the spiritual. Paradoxically, the boys appear to have the greater faith. For Schmuel's obsessive empathy with Rivkah's corpse suggests he can't believe she's already escaped her earthly body. His doubt disables his cantorial voice. Through that lapse in faith, Schmuel's quest leads him into a world of increasing secularity. It starts when the coffin seller, concluding that no possible sale is at risk, drops his reverent mien and starts conversationally to swear. From then on the dialogue hilariously pits the pious against the profane. That is, the world of the spirit dramatically collides with the dirt. Schmuel's orthodoxy is challenged again when he has to talk to the young woman at the community college, a dilemma he "solves" by writing her notes instead. Even this challenge pales before what follows when Schmuel suborns the reluctant college Biology teacher Albert to determine Rivkah's current physical condition. Albert is teaching the need for an efficient eco-system. He trashes stuff in frustration with his class and his own mistakes. Schmuel's intrusion grows from an irritation into his own obsession. Unlike Albert's students, Schmuel acts on the teacher's words, leading him into a sequence of profane actions, including the burial of one pig, the killing of another, the digging up of several dead, all debasing to the orthodox Jew, and all accompanied by the teacher's verbal profanity. Schmuel's degrading quest fails until the two men come upon a "body farm" where the recently deceased are held for study. Even here, they are initially frustrated by the system's order, until they enter at night. Then Schmuel steals a glimpse of a body comparable to Rivkah's. There he finds an assuring beauty. The security guard who catches them finally unites the holy and the secular by their mutual inclusion. From her own family losses to cancer, she understands Schmuel's needs so lets the men leave unarrested, uncharged. But most telling is her language: she is at once among the film's most profane speakers and yet the most religious. She sees the Hassidic widower off with Jesus's blessing. So what does God tell us through this Schmuel's ordeal, quest and conclusion? Who knows? Perhaps that rituals help us deal with our most painful losses but may not in themselves be enough. A personal reconciliation may lie beyond the traditional forms and values. Perhaps our amphibian nature may require our engagement of the profane as well as the holy. The Lord may indeed move in miraculous ways His wonder to deform.

No Point to the film, dragging

[jackhazan-16450 · 3/10 · 8 July 2019]

The film has its funny moments but the ending was horrible. No closure. It lacks substance and I want my 2 hours of my life back lol

There is no guide on how to grief. This man tried to console his wifes loss by burrying a pig and watch it decompose. May sound silly, is endearing nonetheless.

[imseeg · 8/10 · 16 May 2019]

This is an unknown dark comedy gem, definitely worth checking out if you are into bizarre arthouse movies. It has got a gorgeous style of direction, with a dark, yet wonderful serene kind of feel to it, which I was really impressed by!

This movie is best described as a drama comedy. The drama part is about the man's unconsolable grief about his wifes death. The comedy part is the bizarre hilarious ways in which the man tries to console himself. One way of finding consolation is by burrying a pig to literally see it rotting away in the ground. You'll understand why, if you start watching...

Yes, this all might sound bizarre and even gross, but everything is done with the utmost respect for those feelings of grief everyone experiences when a loved one dies. There are many ways of grieving and this movie portrays one the most bizarre ways of grieving I have ever witnessed.

An extraoridinary movie, although it may not be suited for the faint of hearted, it is still so magnificently subtle in direction and genuinly goodhearted in nature. Really impressive and touching story about grief.

Watchable

[npjy83 · 5/10 · 5 May 2019]

The premise of the storyline does not sell the movie, yet there are some laugh out loud scenes and dark humour within. The movie is long drawn out, and could have easily been cut into a short story. The ending of the movie is a little odd, and felt that the direction could have taken a funnier approach, rather than a serious one.

Matthew Broderick is very apt in this role, felt the casting crew did a good job at hiring him for this movie.

The movie, although long drawn, is still watchable, and still offers some laughs and dark comedy. Probably a movie to watch on your own when you have a couple of hours to kill, rather than a group of friends, as there are long scenes of just talking within the movie, which can get a little boring.

Morbidly disturbing

[Gordon-11 · 23 January 2020]

This film is so morbid, literally. It is a sad to see that the man is so disturbed and stuck due to his wife's passing, but his morbid fascination with the morbid is just very disturbing. Be prepared if you really are going to watch this. It contains very very disturbing scenes.

Either brillint or amazingly stupid

[ravitchn · 3/10 · 26 May 2019]

If the purpose here is to show how trapped a person can be in the closed, anti-intellectual environment of ultra orthodox Judaism and the hasidic tradition, how insanity is as close as sanity, then the film does the job rather well. It shows with comedy as well as pain how an ultra religious Jew in mourning can indeed go crazy. Jewish burial prayers say little about the grief of the family involved and almost all about God's greatness and glory -- in other words nothing of comfort for anyone but God!

On the other hand some of the things this Jewish mourner does to find ultimate peace, especially his encounter with dead bodies and dead and alive pigs is beyond belief.

All in all I would not recommend it to anyone.

Funny in a weird way

[Tony Rome · 10/10 · 8 October 2018]

2 unlikely paths cross in this serious dark comedy. The film never gets too serious, and does not attempt to get cheap laughs from slapstick gags, just the general premise of a friendship between a widowed Jewish Cantor obsessed with the body of his late wife , and a single, divorced, Community College Science teacher that the Cantor thinks has all the answers, makes this a funny enjoyable, non commercial film.

Waste of time

[rpabstnm20 · 1/10 · 22 March 2020]

Turned off after 45 min. (Turned off after 45 min. , Turned off after 45 min. )

Brilliant hidden gem

[mnli-77793 · 10/10 · 24 January 2020]

I am not Jewish and know nothing about Jewish culture or beliefs. But this movie both moved me to tears and brought smile to my face. It's a touching tribute to lost love and humorous reconciliation to life that must go on.

This is a wonderful film

[alana-renee · 9/10 · 28 May 2018]

I appreciated the quirky humor that at the same time was getting at something real. I thought it was very effective and very funny. Performances were great, and the writing is strong.

Great film!

[cchessin · 10/10 · 7 October 2018]

Wonderful film. Great bit of humor in it. It really makes you to wonder about your body after death regardless of your religious beliefs. A well thought out written movie and the acting was superb.