The film begins with a few shots of a quiet east European town. It is morning. A young woman is preparing to leave her apartment in what seems to be a very calculated routine. She is walking towards a building and enters it. The plate on the front reads “Music College”. After checking her watch, she enters a classroom where a little 6 year old boy is waiting quietly sat in front of a piano. They greet each other and the boy takes his sheet music out. He starts playing, but his teacher seems to be drifting away looking out the window. The sound of the piano fades and we can hear a piano concert in the distance followed by applause. The teacher’s face is starting to brighten up and she smiles while imagining herself in that situation. She is abruptly interrupted by the boy hitting a loud wrong note. Harshly she expresses her disappointment in the boy’s lack of practice and dismisses him. Looking at the watch again she realizes she has plenty of time left before her next student. She decides to play the piano herself, but the moment she touches the keys she is interrupted by a 14 year old girl who storms in the room and excuses herself for being late. After moving over and making room for the girl to sit down, the teacher asks her if she’s been practicing lately. The young girl’s answer is negative and she apologizes. The teacher’s frustration is starting to show when she aggressively shouts at the girl determining her to run out of the room. She is clearly is distress and decides to leave the classroom.
Later on that day we find her at home, significantly more relaxed. She has her best friend over, they are drinking wine and watching a film (Blue Velvet). The next day she gets on the bus as usual, but this time she spots an old lady in front of her who seems to be following her every move. She ignores her, although she feels a bit uncomfortable. The bus passes an old mansion which catches our main characters attention. She looks out the window and follows it with her eyes till she can’t see it any more. She looks eager to get off and does so as soon as the bus stops. She walks towards the house with curiosity and as soon as she she can spot it, she is filled with a series of emotions. Both with fear and determination, she decides to open the big gate and enter the garden. While getting closer to the entrance of the mansion she spots the old lady on the bus sitting down on the front steps. She suddenly stops, terrified at the sight of her. The old lady welcomes her and is overly friendly as she invites the teacher to enter the house.
The atmosphere of the film takes a complete turn. Our main character enters a room full of people she had not encountered before. They all look strange to her and even she looks completely different. She realizes that all her repressed feelings, all her hidden desires and thoughts are present in that house. As if she was free to explore her unconscious, she walks from room to room to find more situations correlated to her everyday life, but instead of blocking them, she enjoys herself and looks comfortable in the environment. Finally, overwhelmed with emotions she faints and wakes up in the big empty fountain in front of the house. She is highly confused and as she gathers her things she spots an image of herself looking down at her from the balcony. Scared, she runs away to meet her friend. She tells him all about her experience, but he looks at her confused and with disbelief. He decides to go check out the house for himself, but as he walks in all he can find is an empty dirty house in ruins. The next day, we can see the teacher in her apartment as the doorbell rings. When she opens the door, she sees 4 people dressed as doctors standing motionless in front of her. She soon realizes they are characters she encountered in the house. They assure her that they don’t want to hurt her, but she backs off in fear. They restrain, sedate her and take her to a mental hospital. Meanwhile she wakes up and finds herself in a decrepit looking operation room. The nurses take her clothes off, dress her in a white robe and transfer her to a surreal looking room with a single bed. They tie her hands and leave her screaming while nailing down the door. A white smoke can be seen coming from below her bed and she faints.
Epilogue. A random person walks absent minded and spots the house. Drawn towards the gate, she enters. As she passes a tree on her way to the house, her attire changes completely (just like it did with the main character) and suddenly we understand that she’s familiar with the premises. The voice-over monologue on top of the last scene explains the nature of the house through multiple metaphors.
Send In The Clowns 