Brand Upon The Brain!

Guy Madden is a kind of lo-fi David Lynch, and “Brand Upon The Brain!” is a fitting evolutionary step for the director of such cinematic morsels as “Dracula: Pages From a Virgin’s Diary” (2002) and “The Saddest Music In The World.” House painter Guy Maddin (Erik Steffen Maahs) arrives on the shores of the tiny Black Notch Island where he was raised, and goes into a chapter-headed reverie about his bizarre childhood. A young Guy (Sullivan Brown) and his sister “Sis” (Maya Lawson) share the joys of the remote island when they’re out of reach of their possessive mother (Gretchen Krich), who runs an orphanage in the lighthouse where they live. Guy's negligent father (Todd Jefferson Moore) works away on some strange potion in the gloom of the lighthouse basement. The story kicks in with the arrival of Wendy and Chance Hale, a famous brother and sister detective duo who begin investigating Guy’s parents for their suspicious behaviors. Puppy love and adult lust converge in Madden’s grainy, humor-ridden “silent movie” that will certainly leave a brand upon your little brain.

Not Rated. 96 mins. (A-) (Four Stars)