Film
Checkpoint
Other titles called Checkpoint: the 1956 film.
A 30-minute Slovak film about a woman hauling a broken vacuum cleaner across the country to confront the manufacturer. What starts as stubborn consumer complaint becomes a deadpan absurdist journey through provincial Slovakia, where the malfunctioning appliance becomes the most sensible thing in a landscape of human oddness. Droll, oddly touching, very specifically Slovak.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy deadpan comedy where a small absurd premise is played completely straight, and you like stories that wander through odd, lonely places with a dry, affectionate eye.
Skip it if you want a fast plot or a clear sense of where things are heading, since this is a slow, meandering half hour where the humour depends on patience and on noticing small details.
What it asks of you: Only half an hour, and it moves at a gentle, unhurried pace; it asks you to settle into its quiet rhythm and let the oddness accumulate rather than rush toward a payoff.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Rubber2010
A sentient killer tire rolls through the desert. Like Checkpoint, it commits completely to its absurd premise and finds genuine pathos in the ridiculous. Shares the same deadpan tone and willingness to confuse.
But It's deliberately antagonistic toward the audience and sometimes feels more interested in provocation than story. Some find it exhausting rather than clever.
The Lobster2015
Humans must find romantic partners or be turned into animals. European art-house absurdism executed with absolute conviction. The same flat delivery of impossible logic, the same sad undertone beneath the weirdness.
But It's relentlessly bleak and the humor is glacial. If you need warmth or quick laughs, this will feel punishing.
After Hours1985
A man's night in New York becomes progressively more surreal and nightmarish. Scorsese's only comedy: bureaucratic, small-scale, bewildered protagonist trapped in escalating absurdity. The same trapped-in-a-system energy.
But It's from 1985 and feels it. The pacing is deliberate and the comedy is often uncomfortable rather than fun.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Checkpoint
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Come and See1985
Both are Eastern European journeys where geography and systems consume the protagonist, but Come and See inverts the tone entirely—replacing absurdist comedy with absolute horror.
A Soviet boy becomes a soldier in WWII and is destroyed by it. Impossible to look away from; the most visceral, harrowing war film ever made. The connection: both use a journey structure and Eastern European geography, but this one weaponizes the landscape against the viewer instead of treating it with deadpan affection.
But It is the most brutal film ever made about violence. Not abstract or absurdist—terrifyingly real. A completely different emotional register from Checkpoint; don't go in expecting anything but devastation.
More like this (7)
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter2014
A lonely Japanese woman travels to Minnesota convinced buried treasure from Fargo is real. Deadpan, tender, about the courage it takes to pursue something ridiculous. Same mixture of comedy and genuine loneliness.
But It's very quiet and slow. The humor is extremely subtle; you have to be patient with the film's rhythm.
The Death of Stalin2017
Soviet officials scramble after Stalin dies. Black-and-white political satire with the same bone-dry tone and Eastern European sensibility. Absurdity emerging from systems and human pettiness rather than fantasy.
But It's politically dense and requires some historical context. The humor lands harder if you know the period.
Beanpole2019
Two young women rebuild their lives in post-war Leningrad. Russian cinema at its most visually gorgeous and emotionally raw. Shares the regional Eastern European specificity and finds beauty in constraint.
But It's devastatingly sad and deals with trauma and grief. Not comedic at all—tonal whiplash if you go in expecting Checkpoint's tone.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer2017
A surgeon's world collapses when a mysterious boy enters it. Yorgos Lanthimos delivers creeping dread through the same flat dialogue and inexplicable logic. Systems breaking down in real time.
But It's genuinely disturbing and the horror sneaks up on you. Much darker than Checkpoint, and the tension becomes oppressive.
Moonrise Kingdom2012
Two children run away on an island. Wes Anderson's quirk is actually earned here; it's tender and funny and specific. Same affection for oddball characters and geographic precision.
But Anderson's style is very mannered. If his symmetry and pastel palette feel affected to you, this won't convert you.
Petite Maman2021
Both are short, both trust the audience completely, both treat impossible situations (broken vacuum, time loop) as emotional rather than plot devices.
A girl meets her mother as a child in the woods and they become friends. 72 minutes of pure fairy-tale logic and tenderness. French, intimate, about the strangeness of time and family. Same economy of storytelling and refusal to explain things away.
But It's almost plotless and depends entirely on mood. If you need narrative momentum, this will feel inert.
Kin-dza-dza!1986
Same era and sensibility as Checkpoint (though earlier), same willingness to build comedy from constraint and limited resources, same Eastern European deadpan applied to the fantastical.
Soviet sci-fi: two men are transported to an alien desert planet. Absurdist Soviet sci-fi with practical effects and genuine strangeness. 135 minutes of escalating oddness that builds a complete world from nothing. Checkpoint's spiritual ancestor.
But It's Soviet-era sci-fi so it looks handmade and cheap. The pacing is glacial and some sequences test patience. Not for viewers who need polish.
People
Cast
Directing
- Adam FelixDirector
Writing
- Adam FelixWriter
Production
- Jakub ViktorínExecutive Producer
- Juraj SpisakExecutive Producer
- Martina ČeretkováProduction Assistant
Recommended by
Alone in the Dark, Killing Gaza, My Neighbourhood, Deathcheaters, Pan Am, Memento/Mori