Chained for Life

Wednesday, September 11 - Thursday, September 26, 2019

“Building on the promise of his hallucinogenic debut Go Down Death, filmmaker Aaron Schimberg delivers another brilliantly oddball, acerbically funny foray into gonzo surrealism. In a deft tragicomic performance, Jess Weixler (Teeth) plays Mabel, a movie star “slumming it” in an outré art-horror film being shot in a semi-abandoned hospital. Cast opposite her is Rosenthal (Under the Skin‘s Adam Pearson), a gentle-natured young man with a severe facial deformity. As their relationship evolves both on and offscreen, Schimberg raises provocative questions about cinematic notions of beauty, representation, and exploitation. Tod Browning crossed with Robert Altman crossed with David Lynch only begins to describe something this startlingly original and deeply felt.” BAMcinemaFest


Official selection: BAMcinemaFest; Fantastic Fest; Fantasia Festival; BFI London; Berlin Critics Week

“Extraordinary. A cinematic revolution.” The New Yorker

“Humane and transgressive, an American indie of unusually big ideas and aesthetic ambition.” Film Comment

“Bizarre and beautiful. Leaves us on thrillingly shifty ground.” – The Hollywood Reporter

Mesmerizing. A remarkable mind trip of a movie sure to leave audiences reeling.” Indiewire

“Razor-sharp. Mesmerizingly close to the sensation of a waking dream.” Village Voice


  • Country USA
  • Running Time 91 minutes
  • Distributor Kino Lorber
  • Director Aaron Schimberg
  • Writer Aaron Schimberg
  • Editor Sofi Marshall
  • Cinematographer Adam J. Minnick
  • Cast Jess Weixler, Adam Pearson, Charlie Korsmo, Sari Lennick, Stephen Plunkett
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.