Show 1009 – One Block Away – 30th January – The Other Palace, London

The Last Blockbusters

Anchorage, Alaska, 2018. Ricky determinedly fights the oncoming tide of streaming services at his traditional Blockbusters outlet, the last in the world. He only stocks VHSs of classic films and he is so obsessed with keeping it going that he doesn’t have time to notice the love that Shelby feels for him. At the same time another member of the Anchorage community, Timmy, is in love with Shelby, although they have never met.

As all this is going on, film geek extraordinaire Gordon discovers an incredibly rare 1987 film by experimental film maker Krisowsky, which has an extraordinary power – when you watch it, you enter the world of your fantasies. Both Timmy and Ricky start obsessively watching the video, entering a world in which they are in love with the fictitious Shelby. Meanwhile the real Shelby is getting sicker and sicker and no one seems to notice as a snowstorm approaches…