Sad Jokes is a frustrating film. For every glimmer of spark and frankness it demonstrates, it’s offset by a lack of focus and overall vagueness that makes it difficult to recommend. Just like the jokes in its title, the run-up to the punchline isn’t quite satisfying enough.
The film follows Joseph (Fabian Stumm, who also directs), a German film director who co-parents his son Pino with his clinically depressed friend Sonya (Haley Louise Jones). Initially, we get a fairly frank insight into their friendship: she sporadically runs away from the clinic she has been admitted to, and Joseph does his best to balance between this tricky relationship with his professional and personal lives. His is a life of also-rans; never quite able to settle down with a partner, grasping at straws for his next film, and often finding himself in the midst of disasters.
Sometimes, this works in incredibly convincing fashion. There’s a succession of genuinely funny vignettes towards the end of first act where Joseph’s agent regurgitates a dog treat to feed his poorly pet, and soon after gets his hand caught in a vending machine. It’s a refreshing representation of life’s absurdity and unpredictability, but it establishes an inconsistent tone that walks between comedy and poetic drama with little congruence.
Sometimes, though, the film eschews Joseph entirely for extended asides involving random characters who never amount to much plot-wise. It seems like a case of Stumm flexing his directorial muscles; showing off how he can broaden the scope of his slide-of-life absurdism – which is understandable, but it ultimately doesn’t contribute to the wider experience.
This lack of focus means that when we get to some significant character development for Joseph, as he runs into his former flame Marc (an understated but incredibly powerful turn from Jonas Dassler), the film is almost ready to roll credits. You spend so long waiting for Joseph to establish himself as a viable lead, someone we should invest in with a story worth telling, but by the time that happens the film is almost over.
Perhaps that’s all part of Stumm’s plan, showing that life isn’t clear-cut and people’s narratives rarely fit into neat storytelling bows. On that front, Sad Jokes certainly accomplishes its task, but it flirts with so many interesting ideas throughout that it chooses to eschew for this shoegaze-style, Woody Allen approach to laidback filmmaking.
Joseph could’ve been such an interesting protagonist – from his filmmaking career to the reticence he has when making new romantic connections – but oddly, it seems like Sad Jokes doesn’t want to tell that story. In fact, during one especially tongue-in-cheek scene, it makes that perfectly clear, even saying how its female characters are more interesting. It’s meta, yes, but equally frustrating.
The result is a film that’s as sleepy as it is heartfelt, with some flourishes of charm that it feels just as likely to discard as it is to inspect. Unfortunately, the end result isn’t a sad joke – just a bad one.
★★
Sad Jokes screens at the BFI Flare Festival on March 20 and 23, 2025. Check for tickets here.
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