Children at a young age can be naughty and unruly, but when the parents have had enough, it was time to bring in “Wrinkles The Clown” to scare the bad behavior right out of them. The documentary is based on a clown who went viral from a YouTube video where he is seen emerging from under a sleeping child’s bed. The video description claimed the parents had hired him to scare the child for misbehaving. Soon after, multiple videos of Wrinkles appeared on social media of him scaring children in many ways.
There was so much attention to him that the Washington Post interviewed him, he said he didn’t want to be a “boring retiree” who had settled down after moving from New England to Florida. The unknown man instead went into clowning, and printed off business cards and stickers advertising his phone number so people could hire his services.
Not a lot is known about the man behind the mask, you’d think after five years there would be a lot of information about him, but this film seems to be the big reveal for the military veteran. This film is definitely one to appease the cult following Wrinkles has garnered over the years, with YouTube accounts like ‘HvUseen Wrinkles’ posting videos of the real-life Pennywise’s sightings.
The project was initially a Kickstarter, but did not reach its target goal and thus looked like it would never reach production. But Magnet Releasing (a subsidiary of Magnolia Pictures) obtained the rights for the documentary. The documentary is directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Michael Beach Nichols who in the past has done “Welcome To Leith” and “Flex Is Kings.” The trailer consists of victims, the police and conspiracy theorists all being interviewed, along with the man behind Wrinkles, with several shots that were posted online.
READ MORE: Review: Sharply Upsetting Documentary ‘Welcome To Leith’
Here’s the synopsis:
Who is Wrinkles, and why is he doing this? With incredible access to the mastermind behind the mask, Wrinkles the Clown is a cryptic and playful exploration of these questions, as well as an inside look at myth-building and the unpredictable spread of imagination in the Internet age.
The documentary drops at Fantastic Fest, and will release on October 4th. Watch the new trailer below.