The Brothers Quay are legends in the world of stop motion and rather mysterious in their ways. They became noticed in the ’80s creating short films and commercials. They contributed to Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” video. You might have seen their creepy MTV promo (included at the end of this review). Their big smash from this era was their short film Street of Crocodiles based on the work by Bruno Schulz. For their latest feature length film, The Brothers Quay have adapted Sanatorium Under The Sign of the Hourglass also by Bruno Schulz. Because this is a movie that mixes live actors and stop motion animation, the brothers have been working on the movie since they finished The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes nearly 20 years before. They are extremely meticulous filmmakers.
There’s something strange going on as an auctioneer is looking over his notes for a vintage optical device. The Maquette for the Sepulchre of a Dead Retina has magical powers that will be evident shortly when at the right time each year, it reveals to a viewer a series of images that are being refracted using the retina the creator. Supposedly you can see the final seven images seen by the creator. The Speulchre activates and the auctioneer sees things. The big thing he sees is Jozef taking the train to a sanitarium at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. The movie switches over to animated characters in that distinct style of the Brothers Quay. Things get extremely weird as Jozef learns that his ailing father has passed away during the train trip. Doctor Gotard is a bit unreliable on the details. Making matters wilder is that the sanitarium seems as unstable as the patients. There seems nothing of reality to grasp inside the building. Jozef can’t figure out where he really is.
Sanatorium Under The Sign of the Hourglass is the kind of movie that you need to watch late at night so the room can be dark, and you have zero distraction. Visually the Brothers Quay have gone beyond their usual style. The mixing between human actors and their stop-motion characters works because they all photographed with various effects to warp the black and white reality. Since the movie is only 77 minutes long, you’ll immediately want to start the movie over to absorb even more from this great story. It will be interesting to see what the Brothers Quay do next simply because Stephen and Timothy are about to turn 79. If they keep up their normal production schedule, they might be the first 100-year-olds to co-direct a movie. And hopefully I’ll be here for it.
The movie is billed as “Christopher Nolan presents.” Hopefully a few fans of Nolan took a chance to see the film. When the Brothers Quay started on Sanatorium Under The Sign of the Hourglass, Nolan had just released Batman Begins. Nolan made 9 movies while the brothers were moving their model actor’s fingers. Some artistic visions take more time.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The Quay Brothers mess with the aspect ratio during the film. The movie is in black and white. The Audio is Polish DTS-HD MA 5.1. There aren’t regular subtitles, but we get titles on the screen in English.
The Art Teacher from Drohbycz (18:19) is for the 100th anniversary of the birth of novelist Bruno Schulz. This is far from a normal biography.
Quay Brothers Q&A on stop motion animation (56:33) has them talking at the Garden Cinema in London. The Quays are hard to tell apart as twins. The two crack up with the moderator’s introduction. They talk about going from live action filmmaking to table-top stop motion. The Quays are from Philadelphia and went to art school there before coming to the UK in 1969 to work in film. I think they crossed paths with David Lynch in Philly at a nearby art house cinema (Lynch was at a different art school).
Theatrical Introduction by the Quay Brothers (1:09) has them explain they spent nearly 20 years working on the project. The live action footage was shot in about a week.
Theatrical Trailer (1:42) has the Christopher Nolan presents up front.
KimStim presents Christopher Nolan Presents: Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hourglass. Directed by The Brothers Quay. Screenplay by Stephen Quay & Timothy Quay. Starring Tadeusz Janiszewski, Wioletta Kopańska, Andrzej Kłak, Allison Bell & Zenaida Yanowsky. Running Time: 77 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: April 7, 2026.
Here’s MTV promo from the Brothers Quay.
