Sundance 2024: 'Bye Bye, Bowser' is a punk-infused ode to youthful recklessness

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Bye Bye, Bowser
3.5 out of 5 Stars
Featured in: Short Film Program 3
Director: Jasmin Baumgartner
Writer: Lorenz Uhl
Starring: Luna Jordan, Laurence Hadschieff
Category: International Short
Genre: Short, Drama
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Festival Synopsis: Punk singer Luna rebels against the indifference of her artsy friends by writing a song about Laugo, the construction worker from across the street. The collision of the worlds of affluent neglect and everyday work leads to a dramatic downfall.

Review: Who doesn’t love a good Mario Bros. reference? “Bye Bye, Bowser” is a post-century punk film that channels the spirit and energy of Derek Jarman’s “Jubilee” or Alex Cox’s “Sid & Nancy.” The narrative is centered on Luna, the lead singer of a punk rock band, who writes a song about Laugo, one of the construction workers she watches from her apartment window. There’s an immaturity to Luna that goes beyond her reject-authority lifestyle. She demands attention and then grows tired of it.

When Luna goes to see Laugo on his worksite she is “accidentally” showered in wet concrete. Laugo comes to her rescue and the duo embark on a wonderfully strange romance that winds its way to a house party where drugs and alcohol flow freely.

I love the gritty nature of the film. It has a sort of timeless feel in that if it weren’t for the cell phones you might think that it was set in the late 1970s. It feels authentic, like director Jasmin Baumgartner and/or writer Lorenz Uhl occupied a space in the hedonistic world they’ve created around Luna.

The bathrooms are a little too clean and the ending feels a bit wonky (I think a few edits would make it feel less silly), but the spirit is infectious and offensive to some, I’m sure.