While Pennywise spends his days in the sewers, Wrinkles is out scaring kids.
Kids can be terrifying. The only worse type than those possessed by Antichrists from horror movies are the real ones – screaming, cheeky, disobedient, and mean. Parents all over the world face the consequences of parental mistakes – some take away phones, others keep children in their rooms, and forbid sweets or meeting with friends. However, sometimes that just isn’t enough. That is when Wrinkles steps in. One call and the most terrifying and disturbing clown will sneak into your garden, onto your neighbour’s property or into your kid’s bedroom, to give a wave to your munchkin from behind a bush or from underneath their bed. If you have to make a parental mistake, then why not make it worth a meme?
In 2014, a video that included a clown coming out from beneath a bed, who was supposed to scare an unaware girl, appeared on the Internet. It turned out to be Wrinkles – a man whose profession is to scare children. The video soon turned out to be a huge hit on the Internet and went viral. This documentary by Michael Beach Nichols presents the phenomenon of this mysterious clown – and answers questions as to how Wrinkles was created, who is the man behind the mask, and why does he want to frighten kids? This footage also explains how urban legends and virals work, why we fear clowns, and how they are perceived by children themselves.
worldd premiere: Fantastic Fest 2018
director: Michael Beach Nichols
screenplay: Michael Beach Nichols, Christopher K. Walker
cast: D.B. Lambert
director of photography: Michael Beach Nichols
editor: Christopher K. Walker
music: T. Griffin
documentary / USA / 2019
duration: 75 min