Mary Tobin on Crooked Candy

This article is part of NUFEC's ongoing coverage of IFFBoston 2015.

I've traveled to various places in Europe seven times, yet I've never purchased a Kinder Surprise egg before. I wasn't even aware that such a treat existed: a small, chocolate egg that is hollow and reveals a yellow case inside (the "yolk") housing a small toy. For many growing up in Europe, these were apparently nostalgic items reflecting childhood; indeed, the subject of this film finds the eggs to remind him of his childhood in Bulgeria, where he couldn't access the eggs easily both due to a short supply and a lack of disposable income. The evident parallel restricting his access to the eggs now is that they're illegal in the United States; they're considered a choking hazard (only American children would choke on these; the rest of the world is apparently fine). The subject of the film regularly transported the eggs into the United States, but he was more recently stopped at the Canadian border with the illegal eggs and risks losing his work permit in the United States if he is caught transporting them again. Accordingly, we never see his face.

Crooked Candy is simple, elegant, and surprisingly tender. We watch the man interact with his collection of hundreds of Kinder toys as he speaks in a very measured, unassuming, almost calming tone about what the eggs mean to him. When the 6-minute film ended, I was left with so many questions; chiefly, why did it have to end so quickly? It feels rare that a voiceover short film shot largely in the same room and with limited visual engagement of the single subject could so quickly and delightfully engage, but engage it did. I will undoubtedly seek out those Kinder eggs the next time I leave the States, and I look forward to the next unique surprise from director Andrew Rodgers.

Grade: A-