Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life

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Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life is a 1995 drama and mystery movie directed by Stephen Quay and Timothy Quay. It stars Alice Krige, Mark Rylance and Gottfried John. It runs 1h 45m. TMDB users rate it 7.6 out of 10. Streaming in the US on Prime Video, Philo, Fandor and Shout! Factory.

Jakob arrives at the Institute Benjamenta (run by brother and sister Johannes and Lisa Benjamenta) to learn to become a servant. With seven other men, he studies under Lisa: absurd lessons of movement, drawing circles, and servility. He asks for a better room. No other students arrive and none leave for employment. Johannes is unhappy, imperious, and detached from the school's operation. Lisa is beautiful, at first tightly controlled, then on the verge of breakdown. There's a whiff of incest. Jakob is drawn to Lisa, and perhaps she to him. As winter sets in, she becomes catatonic. Things get worse; Johannes notes that all this has happened since Jakob came. Is there any cause and effect?