Parents' Guide to Corner Office

Like its main character, Orson, this comedy is so "peculiar" that not everyone will understand it—but that's absolutely the point, which makes it brilliant. Telling its story using Orson's inner thoughts and point of view, Corner Office lays out how people's differences change their perceptions—and that position carries through in terms of how different viewers will perceive the film. Some will see it as a Kafkaesque satire commenting on the soul-sucking nature of corporate work from the point of view of an arrogant office drone (shades of Milton Waddams in Office Space). Others will see a man who's heartbreakingly misunderstood because his brain works differently.

Some viewers may infer that Orson is neurodivergent, and neurodivergent viewers (or those who are close to neurodivergent people) may experience this comedy very differently from those who are neurotypical. It seems like even director Joachim Back might not fully understand his character. He may be making a movie about a guy who's "lost in his own space," but those who know what it's like to desperately want others to accept neurodivergent behavior—in Orson's case, perceived rudeness, robotic or formal speech, and a rigid need for schedule and order—are well aware that this isn't weird, it's just different (and part of what makes neurodivergent people extraordinary). Orson tries hard to "seem normal" and yet doesn't understand why he can't climb the corporate ladder, even though his work is undeniably better than everyone else's. The movie is literally saying, "Do you see what I see? Are you looking hard enough? Because there's something amazing inside, if you can get past your own notion of 'normal.' Or will you make fun of or dismiss what you don't understand?" In the end, Corner Office is a comedy of a different sort, a metaphorical fantasy with a slap of harsh reality.