The Misconceived
by James N. Kienitz Wilkins
2026, USA, 89 minutes, English
The Misconceived was one of the most thrilling selections at this year’s IFFR, where it had its world premiere.
Tyler, a failed filmmaker and single father, takes a job renovating a country dream-home. It turns out to belong to an old college friend, Tobin, now a successful sculptor. The fact that Tyler once made films becomes the thing his fellow workers keep circling back to, and in the end the film does too, building towards a confrontation that threatens whatever is left of how he sees himself.
Kienitz Wilkins built the whole world of the film inside a game engine (Unreal Engine), working with motion capture, royalty-free music and images from online stock libraries. A social satire about work, class and the art world, full of art-world jargon and wordplay, and he doesn’t avoid the discomfort.
In 2016 we showed work by Kienitz Wilkins once before, his short film Special Features, together with Lynch’s Eraserhead. That evening was so well attended that we put on a second screening, a rarity at WORM!
Cineville valid at the door and online on the day itself.
