A One Mann’s Movies review of “Petrolheads”. (From the 2026 London Film Festival). (2026, 2.5*, ’15’).
Petrolheads was a film that I went into pretty cold on and I was struggling to categorise it. As it starts, I was thinking “is this a documentary”? But then so many of the scenes were ‘staged’ and shot from multiple angles. So if it was a documentary, it was a very staged documentary? I was so confused!
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
The two most important things for Martin are cars and his best friend Casper. The neurodiverse couple hang out together at garages or drive around the Danish countryside, discussing life and its upheavals. But things can sometimes get rocky.
Certification:
UK: NR; US: NR. (This film has not yet received a classification by the BBFC, but I would expect it to be a 15 based on some strong language and explicit drug-taking.)
Talent:
Starring: Martin Jensen, Casper Størner.
Directed by: Emil Langballe.
Written by: Emil Langballe, Christian Einshøj.
Running Time: 1h 16m.
Review:
Positives:
- There is something genuinely sweet about the friendship between Casper and Martin. Martin’s drug-use and relationships with the wrong sort of people drives Casper, literally, to tears.
- There are a lot of funny and sometimes moving discussions between the pair about the meaning of life. Both of their “biggest dreams” are “to be normal”. One of the things that annoys them both is to be reduced to being labelled as “disabled”. But they share a love of all things automotive, with Martin’s dream car being a Honda Civic GT (which, when he finds it, the GT stands for “Greatly Tarnished”!).
Negatives:
- There are funny lines in the film. But they are mostly funny at the expense of Martin and Casper and their limited mental abilities: such that when I did find myself laughing, I immediately felt guilty about so doing.
- For something that feels far more staged drama than documentary, there are occasional leaps of the ‘plot’ that make it feel quite jerky.
- The way in which Martin is tricked and manipulated by bad ‘uns is quite a downer which makes this not a feelgood film for much of its running time.
Summary Thoughts:
At just 76 minutes, this is not a long watch. But I’m afraid, even so, I failed to really engage with it. Some previous LFF documentaries (e.g. The Wolves Always Come at Night) I’ve taken against because they were so obviously staged. I’m afraid this one fell into that category for me.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyQ3SiJCLNk.
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