‘Washing Machine,’ A Sly Commentary On Relationships, Debuts Online

Washing Machine (Pračka), directed by Alexandra Májová, is a visually scrumptious and hilarious piece of domestic appliance erotica that finally arrives online for your viewing pleasure.

A didgeridoo-playing bachelor is having problems with his laundry machine. The machine is lonely and feeling rather amorous. It craves his attention — his clothes, his everything — but he’s too busy with his own instrument to notice. When the machine begins to act erratically, the man calls in a handyman. When the handyman gives the machine the attention it needs, well, this does not go over so well.

Washing Machine (2020), with its gorgeous, minimalist design, dominated by lime green, sunshine yellow, and midnight blue, feels like it could be taken from a lost UPA or Zagreb film. The film could also serve as an example for those many long-winded animation filmmakers, showing that less can be more.

Beyond its playful, absurd eroticism, Washing Machine can also be read as a sly commentary on male-female relationships. The man doesn’t see the woman as human but merely as a domestic appliance, there to serve him, not recognizing ‘her’ needs and desires.

Májová studied animation at FAMU (Czech Republic) before spending time in the animation department of the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn. Her previous films include the student works Swimming Pool (2010) and Mythopolis (2013). She currently illustrates children’s books and creates films and animations with Martin Máj in Májovi studio.

Made while Májová was working on the animated TV series Hungry Bear Tales (2021), Washing Machine was entirely self-produced.