It’s about boredom, alienation and drifting through life, and even praising passivity – after all, the heroes of this story fail when they become under the illusion that life and cinema require twists and turns. “Stranger than in Paradise” is a road movie, the protagonists of which are a sixteen-year-old immigrant from Hungary, Eva, her cousin Willie and his friend Eddie. After a short stay in New York, Eva goes to see her aunt in Cleveland, and a year later – for lack of a better job – Willie and Eddie follow in her footsteps. They have a little cash left, which they won at the races, but with Cleveland’s winter offering no attractions, the three of them head to Florida. Things go bad there.

Jarmusch shows people living “on the side of the road”, and at the same time does not forcefully dramatize their fates, which are governed by chance. Therefore, everything that is important (according to the classical rules of dramaturgy) happens in this film for some reason. “Stranger Than Paradise” is a film woven from trinkets, “out of nothing,” said cameraman Tom DiCillo. The minimalist action is accompanied by the rough music of John Luri. It also resounds “I Put a Spell on You” by Screamin ‘Jay Hawkins – one of Jarmusch’s favorite songs.