Narrative technique · used in 1 film

Closed World Control

Showing characters sealed inside a controlled environment where language and outside influence are policed, so the system's logic and its cracks become the drama.

Examples

Where you can see it

  1. Dogtooth (2009) poster

    Dogtooth

    Yorgos Lanthimos · 2009

    The parents teach the children wrong meanings for everyday words, such as calling a leather chair the sea. The children use them with total confidence, which shows how far the trick works. You start to hear how much a single word can hide.

    Where to see it: The opening: the children listen to a taped voice that gives new meanings to common words.

Questions

Quick answers

What is closed world control in film?
Showing characters sealed inside a controlled environment where language and outside influence are policed, so the system's logic and its cracks become the drama.
Which films use closed world control?
Dogtooth (2009).
What kind of technique is closed world control?
It is a narrative technique. Related narrative techniques include Deadpan Absurdism, Outside Culture as Contagion, Symbolic Object.

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