“What goes on inside that head?”

Michael Fassbender goes one better than Karl Urban’s Judge Dredd in the bizarrely sublime (or is that sublimely bizarre?) Frank.

This is a film which, given a chance and an open mind, is able to eloquently discuss themes of ego, brilliance and mental illness. All from inside its twisted musical biopic papier-mâché mask.

Frank is the film equivalent of Arthur Sasse’s famous photograph of Albert Einstein, in which the physicist is sticking out his tongue. Both present us with the face of genius, unquestionably. Just not in the way we would expect.

Lenny Abrahamson’s latest is able to examine both the gestation process of becoming a musical superstar and the plight of living with mental illness. Frank will break your heart into pieces or your face into a smile. Perhaps both. Although its final third runs out of puff, it is still destined to be a cult classic.

RATING 4/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy

DIRECTOR: Lenny Abrahamson

WRITERS: Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan

SYNOPSIS: Jon, a young wanna-be musician, discovers he’s bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank.