Welcome to the Sonic Catering Institute, a creative retreat for artists whose work occupies a place somewhere between avant-garde music and haute cuisine preparation. Presided over by the eccentric Jan Stevens (Gwendoline Christie), the workshop is hosting a three-piece experimental musical outfit comprising the unyielding Elle di Elle (Fatma Mohamed), the troubled Lamina Propria (Ariane Labed), and Jan’s soon-to-be lover, Billy Rubin (Asa Butterfield). Their unconventional artistic processes are documented by photographer Stones (Makis Papadimitriou), whose chronic gastric issues are as turbulent as the aural creations his subjects are producing. Writer-director Peter Strickland was once a member of the Sonic Catering Band, an experience Flux Gourmet draws upon; the film is a wild and occasionally unsettling satire of the art world, the culture that rises out of it, and the indulgence its stars are afforded.

Notes by David O’Mahony