Rubber

Out in the searing desert, Rubber follows a tire that somehow awakens with a mind of its own and starts rolling through a sleepy outskirts town. It does not merely roll, it surveys, listens, and then acts with an eerie calm as it targets people and objects in sight. A mysterious force seems to guide the tire toward a striking young woman who has drawn unwanted attention from the odd crowd that gathers at the roadside. As bystanders react with a mix of disbelief and curiosity, the film slowly turns a simple spectacle into a meditation on what cinema asks us to watch. The result is absurd, funny, and unnervingly precise in its deadpan tone.

Directed by Quentin Dupieux, Rubber is based on an original concept rather than an adaptation. The 2010 feature, created by Dupieux with Kevin Van Der Meiren and Phill Zagajewski, stars Thomas F. Duffy and Roxane Mesquida, with a festival release.

Critics were divided on its odd blend of humor and horror, yet many praised Dupieux's deadpan approach and the film's audacious premise. It treats spectatorship as a central theme, asking what counts as entertainment when a spectacle literally comes to life. The dialogue is spare and the film relies on sound design and reaction shots from the crowd to carry its ideas.

Within genre circles Rubber has become a touchstone for fans of offbeat micro budget cinema. Dupieux's dry humor and subversive setup influenced other indie provocateurs, and the tire concept remains a memorable image in film festivals and discussions about experimental storytelling.

Box Office grossed about 98,017 worldwide. The micro budget and limited release gave Rubber a cult status rather than blockbuster numbers, underscoring how small films can leave a big, strange mark on audience imagination and spark conversations long after the lights come up.