''Masking Threshold'' is a 2021 English-language Austrian horror film directed by

Johannes Grenzfurthner Johannes Grenzfurthner (; born 1975 in Vienna) is an Austrian artist, filmmaker, writer, actor, curator, theatre director, performer and lecturer. Grenzfurthner is the founder, conceiver and artistic director of ''monochrom'', an international ar ...

, and produced by art group

monochrom Monochrom (stylised as monochrom) is an international art-technology-philosophy group, publishing house and film production company. It was founded in 1993, and defines itself as "an unpeculiar mixture of proto-aesthetic fringe work, pop att ...

. Horror and sound play an essential role in the film. Grenzfurthner says that ''Masking Threshold'' forms a trilogy with ''

Razzennest ''Razzennest'' is a 2022 Austrian supernatural, satirical horror film written and directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner. The film was produced by art group monochrom. Horror and sound play an essential role in the film. Grenzfurthner says that ''Ra ...

'' and ''

Solvent A solvent (from the Latin language, Latin ''wikt:solvo#Latin, solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a Solution (chemistry), solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas ...

''.

Plot

A skeptic IT worker tries to cure his harrowing hearing impairment by conducting a series of experiments in his makeshift home lab. The film combines the style of a

chamber play A chamber play is a play of usually three acts which can be performed with a small cast and practically no sets or costumes in a small space. The form became popular in the early 20th century, with leading exponents being Max Reinhardt and August S ...

, a scientific procedural and the aesthetic of

unboxing Unboxing is the process of unpacking consumer products, especially high-tech gadgets, which is recorded on video and shared online. It is the visual documentation of the out-of-box experience. The video typically includes a detailed description ...

or DIY YouTube videos, with

body horror Body horror, or biological horror, is a subgenre of horror fiction that intentionally showcases grotesque or psychologically disturbing violations of the human body or of another creature. These violations may manifest through aberrant sex, mutat ...

elements and techniques known from

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...

. Grenzfurthner sees the film in the tradition of ''

extreme cinema Extreme cinema (or hardcore horror and extreme horror) is a subgenre used for films distinguished by its use of excessive sex and violence, and depiction of extreme acts such as mutilation and torture. The rising popularity of Asian films in the 2 ...

'', but presents elements of

psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...

. In an interview with Thomas Kaestle, Grenzfurthner talks about his motivation. ::''Masking Threshold'' is a film about a suffering but stubborn and willful person whose perspective of the world and whose beliefs are turned upside down, whose dogmas are turned against the world and against himself. My protagonist is queer, so you want to understand the societal pressures on him, you want to understand the trauma he's been through and the burden of his terrible illness. But there comes a point when sympathy for him turns to horror. ..There have been a few excellent attempts to bring ''

Cosmicism Cosmicism is American author H. P. Lovecraft's name for the literary philosophy he developed and used for his fiction. Lovecraft was a writer of horror stories that involve occult phenomena like astral projection and alien miscegenation, an ...

'' to the screen, but most of the time it seems cheap. The wonderful thing about weird fiction is that we can't really imagine the horror, that the transdimensional evil just isn't the tentacle monster that looks ridiculous as an FX puppet or as a rendered CGI representation. I've never wanted to show what my protagonist is actually talking about and what the danger looks like. But I did want to show what it drives him to do.

Cast

* Ethan Haslam as the protagonist (voice) * Johannes Grenzfurthner as the protagonist (corporeal) * Katharina Rose as Dana All other cast members are but images on the protagonist's cellphone or on photographs and printouts.

Release

''Masking Threshold'' premiered at

Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas, focused on fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action and cult films, the largest genre festival in the United States. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse. Lisa Dreyer ...

2021 in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. Programming director

Annick Mahnert Annick Mahnert (born 13 July 1975) is a Swiss film festival curator and film producer. She is the Director of Programming at Fantastic Fest and a programmer at Sitges Film Festival and was named executive director of the Canadian genre industry pl ...

published her decision:

Once in a while as a programmer, you come across a movie that is so special and different from anything you've seen that it sticks with you. ''Masking Threshold'' has been haunting me since I saw it, and for a long time I wondered if you, dear Fantastic Fest audience, were ready for it. But isn't it the role of a programmer to take chances and be bold? You may want to burn me at the stake for programming ''Masking Threshold'', but I'll gladly hand you the gasoline and the matches to light the pyre.

Other festivals, including Molins Horror (2021), A Night of Horror (2021),

Nightmares A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety, disgust or sadness. The dream may contain situations o ...

(2021), Feratum (2021),

South African Horrorfest The South African Horrorfest is a film festival for horror and genre films in Cape Town, South Africa. It hosts celebrities, artists, filmmakers, screenwriters, and press from the horror genre. It is the longest running and only event of its ki ...

(2021), Cucalorus,

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, Slick 'n' Wrong, Shockfest, Sicilia Queer Film Fes

Film Maudit 2.0, Central Florida, Unnamed Footage in San Francisco, Offscreen Film Festival, Offscreen in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Diagonale The Diagonale (Festival of Austrian Film) is a film festival that takes place every March in Graz, Austria. The festival was initially held under the auspices of the Austrian Film Commission in Salzburg from 1993 to 1995 but moved to Graz in 19 ...

2022 in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, Panic Fest 2022, and

Fantaspoa Fantaspoa is an international film festival held annually in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Established in 2005, it focuses on genre cinema, including fantasy, science fiction and horror, and showcases both feature-length and short films, with a focus o ...

2022 screened the film.

Distribution

Drafthouse Films Drafthouse Films is an independent film distribution company based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2010 by Tim League, who had previously founded the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain. Drafthouse has released a variety of films since its incepti ...

is distributing the film in the United States. It had a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in October 2022, and was released digitally on 7 October 2022.

Reception

Critical response

Critical response has been positive. The film holds a 100% approval rating on the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

of 8.2/10. Jen Yamato of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' writes: "Utilizing macro photography and ASMR-esque sound design, the immersive, experimental horror Masking Threshold pulls you down a rabbit hole where Reddit theorizing meets Lovecraftian fixation, paranoia bubbling over into a disturbing sensory experience." Erik Piepenburg of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' says: "2022 was a stellar year for experimental horror. I'm adding Johannes Grenzfurthner's brazen and deeply disturbing film to the year's best formbusters." ''Horror Movies Uncut'' (5/5) concludes: "Each decade must have one film that truly disturbs even the most avid horror watcher and ''Masking Threshold'' may just be that film." Bradley Gibson of ''

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an American online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. ...

'' (9/10) says that "it will test your sanity. ..Despite, or perhaps because of, the graphic imagery, this feature is a brilliant look at obsession and the possible grisly endpoint of reductio ad absurdum." ''UK Film Review'' (5/5) describes it as "a claustrophobic, harrowing horror which is likely to make even the most strong willed viewer squeamish." ''iHorror'' says: "''Masking Threshold'' is unlike anything you have seen before. It’s a dose of pure insanity that is constantly brought home by macro focus and audio that pushes you all of the damn place. It is never insanity without a multilayered source. The entirety feels dangerous and a lot like riding in a race car with no seatbelt of framework." Brian Collins of ''What To Watch'' (4/5) states: "For me, I can't even think of another moviegoing experience like it. Grenzfurthner deserves some kind of award for how well he fully committed to what seems like a nightmarish set of limitations for a filmmaker and used them to his advantage." Andrew Stover of ''Film Inquiry'' summarizes: "The warped, claustrophobic horror of ''Masking Threshold'' is wholly original, making it one of the best horror films of the year. Grenzfurthner’s grim, artsy horror film is unforgettable."

KPFK KPFK (90.7 FM) is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, which serves Southern California. It was the second of five stations in the non-commercial, listener-sponsored Pacifica Radio network. KPFK 90.7 FM be ...

's Film Club calls it "brilliantly nightmarish." Film critic Brandon Judell praises the film's screenplay as one of best of recent years: "With the superb cinematography of Florian Hofer, and the awe-inducing editing by both Grenzfurthner and Hofer, Masking Threshold is a wry, dissective look at modern society's derangement."

Awards

* ''The Film from Hell - Best of the Festival'' at Nightmares Film Festival 2021 (

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

) * ''Best Screenplay'' at A Night of Horror International Film Festival 2021 (

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

) (for Johannes Grenzfurthner and Samantha Lienhard) * ''Being Different Award'' at Terror Molins 2021 (Spain) * ''Golden Stake Award'' at Shockfest 2021 * ''Best International Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature'' at Feratum Film Fest (Mexico) *''Best Screenplay'' at South African Horrorfest 2021 (for Johannes Grenzfurthner and Samantha Lienhard) *''Best Cinematography'' at South African Horrorfest 2021 (for Florian Hofer) *''Best Editing'' at South African Horrorfest 2021 (for Johannes Grenzfurthner and Florian Hofer) *''Best Feature Film'' at the

British Horror Film Festival The British Horror Film Festival (BHFF) is an independent film festival that takes place annually in the United Kingdom and is one of four events hosted by the Film Festival Guild, including the British Animation Film Festival, the British In ...

2021 *''Best Trailer'' at Indie House 2022 *''Best Feature Film'' at Film Maudit 2.0 2022 (Los Angeles) *''Best Editing of the Festival'' at Unnamed Footage Festival 2022 (San Francisco)

References

External links

* *
Interview with Grenzfurthner
in ''Film Threat''

in ''Zebrabutter'' (German)
Interview with Grenzfurthner
in ''PopHorror'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Masking Threshold 2021 films Austrian horror films Austrian independent films 2020s psychological horror films LGBTQ-related horror films Medical-themed films Found footage films Films set in Florida Films shot in Austria Films set in 2019 Films about death Films about diseases and disorders Films about mental states Films about science Films about religion Films about pseudoscience Lovecraftian horror Cosmic horror Weird fiction Nerd culture Films about computer hacking DIY culture Mass media portrayals of the middle class Monochrom Mass media about Internet culture Films directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner 2020s English-language films 2021 LGBTQ-related films Austrian LGBTQ-related films English-language documentary films Cosmic horror films