Down the Arm of God — Peter Brunner [Locarno ’26 Review]

It’s a common refrain that it takes an outsider filmmaker to capture the truth of a place. An influx of Germans like Billy Wilder and Fritz Lang in the 1930s transformed Hollywood with outsider depictions of American culture at a time when the movies still were American culture. Non-American filmmakers have been offering their take on the idea of America ever since. Peter Brunner’s latest film, Down the Arm of God, represents a low point in this legacy, an example...