The Nowhere Inn is a 2020 American mockumentary psychological thriller–comedy film directed by Bill Benz from a screenplay by Annie Clark in her film debut and Carrie Brownstein. It stars Clark, Brownstein and Dakota Johnson.
I had no idea what to expect from The Nowhere Inn, I am still not sure after watching it. There is something about St. Vincent where I feel both captivated by the theatre (see the Austin performance as an example) even if it leaves me even more confused about who the real St. Vincent is.
Like David Bowie, she uses fashion, hair, and stage production as a suit of armour. In the film, when “Annie” tries to be normal, she’s mocked for being uninteresting. It suggests a tragic trade-off: to be a captivating artist, you have to sacrifice the “real” you to the persona.
Apparently the film was actually born out of a real documentary attempt. When they realised a standard tour documentary was going to be “boring,” they decided to blow up the genre entirely and turn it into a psychological thriller. But then again, who would know?