

Paul is agonising over his interpretation of 'Uncle Vanya' and, paralysed by anxiety, stumbles upon a solution via a New Yorker article about a high-tech company promising to alleviate suffering by extracting souls. He enlists their services—only to discover that his soul is the shape and size of a chickpea.
Acting
Giamatti playing himself having an existential crisis
Production
Soviet-style soul extraction facility aesthetic
Writing
Chekhov references that actually land

Director
Sophie Barthes
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film was inspired by director Sophie Barthes's own fever dream about discovering a soul-storage facility. She woke up and immediately wrote the script.
The movie anticipated the wellness industry's soul-searching industrial complex by a solid decade—soul extraction as service economy precursor to cryonics and biohacking.