SIFF 2025: 'Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hourglass' Capsule Review

The Brothers Quay return with their first feature in 20 years, Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass. The haunting stop-motion offering, based on the book of the same name by Polish writer Bruno Schulz, adapts the surreal, fantastic journey of a young man, who, having recently lost his father, travels by train to a mysterious sanatorium.

 

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A series of vignettes capturing the “themes and motifs” of Shulz’s book, the elaborate little stop motion dude wanders the landscape, out of time and place, following a winding path of memory, juxtaposing moments of joy against pangs of pain and grief. Ephemeral, dense, and gorgeously rendered, the film ruminates on death, loss, and memory, even if the end result is a bit slight. [Grade: B]

 

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