Almost five years ago in November 2014, a YouTube video went viral that put parents of South Florida on high alert. The title of the video was ‘Wrinkles the Clown Caught on CCTV’.
The video was a home security footage and it showed a creepy clown coming from underneath a sleeping girl’s bed and tucking her in. Then the clown ended the video by taking away the camera. Soon, there were more videos of the same sort and a phone number was circulated through which parents can directly contact Wrinkles.
Based on the aforementioned is Michael Beach Nichols’s documentary Wrinkles the Clown, the movie aims to find the truth and study the psychological repercussions behind the infamous Florida terror. The movie gives a very complicated answer to whether Wrinkles the Clown is real or not. Obviously yes, but that gives rise to a series of more questions.
The movie questions if the act of the parents who contact Wrinkles to get their child punished is acceptable or a kind of child abuse. For an answer to this question, Nichols relies on interviews with talking heads and authority figures, also taking into consideration the opinion of children in the country who have been affected by Wrinkles’ presence.
The movie poses several open-ended, intricate questions. These questions at times make it difficult to keep a hold on the movie’s underlying aim. All the points in the movie are connected finally but initially, it all feels directionless. The angle of the narrative keeps shifting as Nichols has discussed a plethora of fascinating topics in his quest to unmask Wrinkles.
By the end of the movie, not all questions are answered, which might frustrate some viewers. A major avenue is left unsettled that might cause disappointment. Although that was not something Nichols wanted to tell. Nichols attempts to get behind the truth of Wrinkles. And in doing so, he discovers the terrifying power of idea and belief.
Wrinkles the Clown is set to release on the 4th of October. And its creepy imageries makes the movie perfect for the Halloween month.