Matter Out of Place

Play trailer

Matter Out of Place

Released Apr 14, 2023

1h 45m

Documentary

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

60%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

29%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Waste on the shores, waste on the mountains. On ocean floors and deep down in the earth. The term "matter out of place" refers to objects in a place they do not originally belong to. Acclaimed Austrian director Nikolaus Geyrhalter, in his new film, traces immense amounts of waste across our planet. His minutely composed images shuttle from the mountaintops of Switzerland to the coasts of Greece and Albania, into an Austrian refuse incinerator and then to Nepal and the Maldives, finally landing in the deserts of Nevada. Over the course of his extraordinary odyssey, Geyrhalter illustrates the sheer endless struggle of people to gain control over the vast amounts of waste that we produce every single day. Therapeutic and galvanizing all at once, MATTER OUT OF PLACE confirms Geyrhalter as a documentarian with boundless ambition and concern for this collective home we call Earth.

William Repass

Slant Magazine

Consisting largely of long takes sans music or commentary, the film uncovers the paradox that trash, so apparently devoid of meaning or use-value, needs little commentary.

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 9, 2023

Full Review

Michael Clark

Epoch Times

Nobody likes garbage, yet “Matter” (with minor exceptions) only addresses a single facet of the issue, namely moving it from one place to another, often at a snail’s pace.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 12, 2023

Full Review

Diane Carson

KDHX (St. Louis)

Hope comes from the many efforts to clean up our mess: Volunteers for a Clean Homeland work on beaches, a line of volunteers scours the desert, scuba divers gather tires and debris from the ocean, a recycling plant and an incinerator process refuse.

Mar 23, 2023

Full Review

Daniel Gorman

In Review Online

Geyrhalter’s now familiar fixed-camera, tableaux-style compositions attempt to take in the full enormity of our waste. It is eye-opening, to say the least.

Aug 17, 2022

Full Review

Neil Young

Screen International

A typically sober, observational and engrossing work of ecological-anthropological documentary from Austrian maestro Nikolaus Geyrhalter.

Aug 12, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Nikolaus Geyrhalter

Director

Michael Kitzberger

Producer

Markus Glaser

Producer

Wolfgang Widerhofer

Producer

Nikolaus Geyrhalter

Producer

Michael Kitzberger

Executive Producer

Jōhatsu: Into Thin Air

%

%

Jōhatsu: Into Thin Air

Watchlist

Scrap

100%

%

Scrap

Watchlist

Forest

%

%

Forest

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Forest

The Minimalists: Less Is Now

0%

28%

The Minimalists: Less Is Now

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Waste on the shores, waste on the mountains. On ocean floors and deep down in the earth. The term "matter out of place" refers to objects in a place they do not originally belong to. Acclaimed Austrian director Nikolaus Geyrhalter, in his new film, traces immense amounts of waste across our planet. His minutely composed images shuttle from the mountaintops of Switzerland to the coasts of Greece and Albania, into an Austrian refuse incinerator and then to Nepal and the Maldives, finally landing in the deserts of Nevada. Over the course of his extraordinary odyssey, Geyrhalter illustrates the sheer endless struggle of people to gain control over the vast amounts of waste that we produce every single day. Therapeutic and galvanizing all at once, MATTER OUT OF PLACE confirms Geyrhalter as a documentarian with boundless ambition and concern for this collective home we call Earth.

Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Producer: Michael Kitzberger, Markus Glaser, Wolfgang Widerhofer, Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Distributor: Icarus Films
Production Co: Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: German
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 14, 2023, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 14, 2023
Runtime: 1h 45m

Most Popular at Home Now