A wildly surrealistic computer-generated animation in which a young man is psychologically brutalized by circus characters into believing he is a clown.
Direction
Landreth's grotesque character design pioneered uncanny valley horror.
Visual Effects
1998 CGI that ages like a fever dream.
Sound
Carnival score warps into industrial nightmare.
Director
Chris Landreth
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Landreth later won an Oscar for 'Ryan' (2004), pioneering the same grotesque documentary style with more acclaim.
The circus-as-corporation metaphor predicted modern gig economy horrors decades before Uber existed. Dave's forced clown transformation mirrors how workers absorb employer identity.
US
CA
