Comma Boat (2013): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2013, Comma Boat is a notable film directed by Ryan Trecartin.

What it’s about. In Comma Boat, we're stuck in a mock-authoritarian fantasy--a power trip. The film centers around a director-character played by Trecartin who oscillates between feelings of omnipotence and self-doubt. As if a post-human, post-gendered reincarnation of the Fellini character in 8 ½, the director gloats and frets about professional and ethical transgressions. "I know I lied to get ahead," he admits at one point. "I've made up so many different alphabets just to get ahead in my field." The director is fancier now, but the fear nags that he might be "repeating" himself "like a dumb soldier ova and ova and ova and ova." The meta-connection to the artist's own career, while obvious, is also a decoy. All art, at some level, is about the artist. Here, reflexivity is the surface level, providing a decodable veneer that encases something more unsettling and complex. Single-channel and 3-channel versions.

Who’s in it. Comma Boat stars Casey Jane Ellison as Host / Fineline. band, Maxwell Murphy as Host / Swim Body / Host. More Trade, Allison Byrnes as Owna Act. Etho-nark. Anthrocam and Caitlin MacBride as Host. z.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Comma Boat page.