Mere seconds into The Egghead Republic – Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja’s follow-up to TIFF 2018 selection Anaria – a though struck me that whether I wanted it or not, the film essentially thrust me into the closest approximation possible to what Matt Johnson’s take on Stalker would look like.
Just listen to this premise. And tell me if it doesn’t scream Matt Johnson. Featuring ample use of hand-held camerawork and DIY photography, Egghead Republic centers around a crack team of journalists at a VICE knockoff who get permission to enter and film inside of a nuclear blast zone. This blast zone is found in Kazakhstan, the target in an alternate reality where the Cold War got hot.
I’m not going to sit here and suggest that Egghead Republic is brilliant. It’s very classic genre fair, deeply silly and containing way too many ideas smashed together to be amazing. But it’s hard not to find it a little bit fun. Tyler Lebine (Tucker and Dale vs Evil) is delightfully awful as shock jock Dino Davis, who constantly pits his employees against each other to do increasingly dangerous and outrageous stunts. Most affected by this is Sonja (I think Gina Dirwai, although I didn’t write it down so I’m not certain), who desperately wants to make a name for herself. Sonja’s uncle is the founder of the zone, another one of the films innumerable ideas. I will remember this, less for its quality than its outlandishness, but sometimes, that’s more than enough.
- Rated: Unrated
- Genre: Adaptation, Comedy, Cult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Women's Cinema, World Cinema
- Release Date: 9/14/2025
- Directed by: Hugo Lilja, Pella Kågerman
- Starring: Arvin Kananian, Ella Rae Rappaport, Emma Creed, Gina Dirawi, Merlin Leonhardt, Stephen Rappaport, Tyler Labine
- Produced by: Nina Lund, Pella Kågerman
- Written by: Hugo Lilja, Pella Kågerman
- Studio: Film i Dalarna, Film Stockholm, Gotlands Filmfond, NonStop Entertainment, Svenska Filminstitutet, YouSavedMe
