I’ve been following Electroma out of the corner of my eye for awhile. It’s the first feature film written and directed by Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, who are better known as the French techno duo Daft Punk, although there are no Daft Punk compositions on the soundtrack. Bangalter has described Electroma as “experimental and inaccessible; however, it’s a movie that does not require your brain to function.” It screened at Cannes, where it earned possibly the most condescending Variety review I have ever read, wherein Leslie Felperin sniped at the film’s “risible” plot and total lack of dialogue, and lobbed pejorative comparisons to Gus Van Sant’s Gerry and Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny – which are two films that I absolutely adore — although she eventually concedes that one shot of a burning robot (is that a spoiler?) is pretty off the chain.

And as more reviews roll in, the news seems to be getting better and better. This one, from Seattle’s The Stranger (which comes to us via BuzzFeed) says Electroma is “pretty” and “sad” and that, in terms of emotional arc, “is a huge downer, like Brokeback Mountain for robots.” That review is rife with details on the “roughly three things” that form the movie’s plot, so don’t click through if you’re sensitive about that sort of thing.

Unfortunately, it looks like Electroma will be going straight-to-video here in US–right now, it’s scheduled to be released by Vice Records in September. I’m trying to get my hands on a copy, and as soon as I do, you’ll be the first to know.