Problemos (2017) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

An idealistic rural alternative society collapses when its principles cannot contain fear, coercion, scarcity, and competing claims to authority.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

Arrival Among Idealists

A couple enters Jean-Paul's rural activist community and gives up its phones. The settlement presents shared labor, ecological production, and communal ownership as the basis of a new society.

Key Events

• Arrival at the Community — A couple arrives with their child at the rural activist settlement. Characters: Gaya, Simon Location: Jean-Paul's rural activist community
• Phones Are Surrendered — Visitors must surrender their phones because some residents fear harmful electronic waves. Characters: Gaya, Simon, Jean-Paul Location: Community entrance
• Jean-Paul Welcomes Visitors — Jean-Paul explains the settlement's organization and its alternative social principles. Characters: Gaya, Simon, Jean-Paul Location: Rural community
• Permaculture Activity Zone — The permaculture project grows tomatoes and aims to make the group self-sufficient. Characters: Gaya, Simon, Jean-Paul Location: Permaculture project
• Shared Labor Ideals — The settlement presents itself as a society based on shared labor, ecology, free speech, and opposition to ownership. Characters: Gaya, Simon, Jean-Paul Location: Community meeting area
• Women Discuss Equality — Gaya speaks about equality, body hair, sexuality, and polyamory. Characters: Gaya Location: Women's discussion circle

Freedom Meets Pressure

Gaya's discussion of equality, sexuality, and polyamory exposes differences between communal ideals and private relationships. An outside confrontation at the barricade adds fear and uncertainty.

Key Events

• Women Discuss Equality — Gaya speaks about equality, body hair, sexuality, and polyamory. Characters: Gaya Location: Women's discussion circle
• Monogamy Is Challenged — The couple admits their relationship is not open while residents encourage reconsideration of exclusivity. Characters: Gaya, Simon Location: Women's discussion circle
• Barricade Confrontation — An outside confrontation threatens the settlement, and the residents question whether the apparent retreat is a trap. Characters: Gaya, Simon, François, Jean-Paul Location: Community barricade
• Retreat Remains Uncertain — The group cannot determine whether the opposing force has genuinely withdrawn. Characters: Gaya, Simon, François, Jean-Paul Location: Community barricade
• A New World Is Declared — The group rejects ordinary calendars and declares the next day Oonday the krisken of Tarkoon. Characters: Gaya, Simon, François, Jean-Paul Location: Community meeting area

Inventing a New Calendar

The residents reject ordinary calendars and declare a new first day for their society. The symbolic reset quickly gives way to disputes over sleeping space, work, money, and resources.

Key Events

• A New World Is Declared — The group rejects ordinary calendars and declares the next day Oonday the krisken of Tarkoon. Characters: Gaya, Simon, François, Jean-Paul Location: Community meeting area
• The New Society Fractures — The attempt to rebuild society immediately produces further disagreement. Characters: Gaya, Simon, François, Jean-Paul Location: Rural community
• Sleeping Arrangements Disputed — A dispute over sleeping arrangements exposes resentment about work, money, and limited resources. Characters: Gaya, Simon, François Location: Community sleeping quarters
• Utensils Come From Dump — Dylan brings utensils from a dump, triggering fears that he may be contaminated by the pandemic. Characters: Dylan, Simon, Gaya Location: Community area
• Reason Is Accused — Residents panic over contamination while others accuse them of abandoning reason. Characters: Dylan, Simon, Gaya Location: Community area

The Community Turns Violent

Dylan's discarded utensils provoke pandemic fears and accusations that reason has been abandoned. His coercive shower exchange with Simon produces humiliation, accusations of sex slavery, and violence.

Key Events

• Reason Is Accused — Residents panic over contamination while others accuse them of abandoning reason. Characters: Dylan, Simon, Gaya Location: Community area
• The Shower Exchange — Dylan asks Simon for shower access and offers sexual favors in exchange. Characters: Dylan, Simon Location: Community shower area
• Accusations of Sex Slavery — The exchange becomes coercive and humiliating, prompting accusations of sex slavery and a violent outburst. Characters: Dylan, Simon, Gaya, François Location: Community area
• Jean-Paul Rebukes Simon — Jean-Paul tells Simon that the community is no longer satisfied with its direction. Characters: Jean-Paul, Simon Location: Community meeting area
• Claude's Death and Pogrom — Claude dies, followed by a pogrom and intensifying internal conflicts. Characters: Claude, Gaya, Simon, François, Jean-Paul Location: Rural community

Leadership After Collapse

After Claude's death and a pogrom, Jean-Paul invokes Patrice's alleged instruction to search for Simon. His threatened departure leaves the survivors struggling over leadership until a disturbing incident involving a child completes the collapse into suspicion.

Key Events

• Claude's Death and Pogrom — Claude dies, followed by a pogrom and intensifying internal conflicts. Characters: Claude, Gaya, Simon, François, Jean-Paul Location: Rural community
• Patrice's Alleged Instruction — Jean-Paul claims Patrice spoke to him and instructed him to search for Simon due north. Characters: Jean-Paul, La femme de Patrice, Simon Location: Community meeting area
• Jean-Paul Threatens Departure — Jean-Paul threatens to leave unless others join him, provoking fear and confusion. Characters: Jean-Paul, François, Gaya, Simon Location: Rural community
• Jean-Paul Withdraws — Jean-Paul begins withdrawing while the remaining residents struggle over leadership. Characters: Jean-Paul, François, Gaya, Simon Location: Community outskirts
• Suspicion Surrounds the Child — A disturbing incident involving a child leads to accusations against one community member. Characters: Gaya, Simon, François, Dylan Location: Rural community
• Community Collapses — The community ends in suspicion, disorder, and an unresolved struggle for leadership. Characters: Gaya, Simon, François, Dylan Location: Rural community

Story Breakdown

• Arrival and Orientation — The visitors enter the settlement and learn how its communal system operates.
  • Phone Surrender — Visitors give up their phones because some residents believe electronic devices emit harmful waves.
  • Permaculture Project — The tomato-producing project is presented as a path toward self-sufficiency.
• Communal Ideology — The community promotes ecological principles, shared labor, free speech, and opposition to conventional ownership.
  • Shared Labor — The settlement organizes itself around communal activity zones and collective work.
  • Alternative Ownership — Residents reject ordinary assumptions about ownership while trying to build another society.
• Sexual Politics — Discussions of equality, body hair, sexuality, and polyamory reveal tensions around intimacy and exclusivity.
  • Women's Circle — Gaya speaks about equality, body hair, sexuality, and polyamory.
  • Closed Relationship — The couple says their relationship is not open, while others challenge exclusivity.
• External Threat — An outside confrontation at the barricade undermines the community's sense of security.
  • Barricade Clash — The residents face a confrontation at the community barricade.
  • Possible Trap — The apparent retreat of the opponents remains uncertain.
• Failed Reinvention — The residents attempt to abolish ordinary time and rapidly establish a new social order.
  • Oonday Declared — The next day is renamed Oonday the krisken of Tarkoon.
  • Resource Resentment — Sleeping arrangements expose disputes over work, money, and limited resources.
• Fear and Contamination — Dylan's actions intensify the conflict between pandemic fear and accusations of irrationality.
  • Dump Utensils — Dylan brings utensils from a dump into the community.
  • Reason Disputed — Some residents fear contamination while others accuse them of abandoning reason.
• Coercion and Violence — A request for shower access becomes a humiliating exchange that destabilizes the group.
  • Sexual Bargain — Dylan offers sexual favors to Simon in exchange for shower access.
  • Violent Outburst — The exchange prompts accusations of sex slavery and leads to violence.
• Authority Disintegrates — Death, a pogrom, and competing claims of instruction leave the community without stable leadership.
  • Claude's Death — Claude's death is followed by a pogrom and growing internal conflict.
  • Jean-Paul Withdraws — Jean-Paul invokes Patrice's alleged instruction, threatens to leave, and begins withdrawing.
• Final Suspicion — The remaining residents struggle over leadership before a disturbing incident involving a child produces accusations and collapse.
  • Leadership Vacuum — The remaining residents contest direction after Jean-Paul's withdrawal.
  • Community Collapse — The ending leaves the settlement in suspicion and disorder after accusations against a member.

Directed by

Éric Judor

Key Cast

• Blanche Gardin — Gaya
• Éric Judor — Victor
• Célia Rosich — Jeanne
• Youssef Hajdi — Simon
• Marie Helmer — Margaux