Film Review: FRIED BARRY (2017) (Short Film)

FRIED BARRY **** South Africa 2017 Dir: Ryan Kruger. 3 mins

Writer-director Ryan Kruger’s career encompasses acting roles for directors like Neil Marshall and Danny Boyle alongside music videos for South African metal bands. His venture into the realm of experimental short films was kickstarted by the festival hit FRIED BARRY – now expanded into a 2019 feature film. It’s a dizzying, disorientating, dialogue-free tale of a junkie’s (Gary Green) body hijacked by an alien life form after a potent hit. Told entirely in acid trip style via jarring visuals, rapid, jittery editing and abrasive use of sound, it finds everything from cartoonish eyeball-popping comedy to fleeting moments of surprising beauty in the ensuing, frenetic chaos. There’s even a nod to 80’s forehead-bulging bladder FX horror set pieces. It’s technically stunning and Green is well cast in the title role.

Review by Steven West