Welcome back to another globetrotting journey through my Letterboxd Map! Make sure your vehicle registration is in order as we’re off to North Macedonia for Sticker.
Title: Sticker
Director: Georgi M. Unkovski
Released: September 25, 2019 (Theatrical – North Macedonia)
Runtime: 19 minutes
Dejan (Saško Kocev) is on his way to see his daughter’s school play. Before he heads out, there’s just one quick stop to make. He needs to renew his vehicle registration.
After waiting in line, it’s finally his turn. He approaches the window and explains that he’s here to renew his registration. He’s then given a number to call to find out when his registration sticker will be available. Normally he’d get the sticker on the spot, but the entire city happens to be out of stickers. He’s assured that if he’s stopped by police, they’ll understand the situation.
Despite doing as he was told by the powers that be, Dejan is pulled over not long after leaving. He explains that his registration is expired but he was assured it would be fine since the sticker issue is a city-wide one. The officer doesn’t see it that way and asks him to step out of his vehicle.
He now finds himself in the back of a police car, trying to figure out how he’ll still make his daughter’s play.
Sticker takes what should be a simple bureaucratic interaction and finds every possible way it could go sideways.
A man trying to do things the right way, constantly punished for his efforts. This could have easily tipped toward something bleak, but Unkovski injects just enough dark humor to keep things light.
Kocev does a great job of using subtle facial expressions to portray Dejan’s utter bewilderment at what continues happening to him. He doesn’t go over-the-top, which only helps to make the character that much more relatable.
In the wrong hands this gets stretched into a bloated 90-minute feature. Unkovski keeps it tight, delivers what the story needs, and gets out.
With only 19 minutes to work with, not a single one is wasted.