BUTT BOY

US, 2019, 99 minutes, Colour.
Tyler Rice, Tyler Cornack, Shelby Dash, Brad Potts, Austin Lewis.
Directed by Tyler Cornack.

Denis Harvey, from Variety, put his response very succinctly: “A one-joke, bad-taste concept is pulled off with some deadpan panache in this indie comedy "thriller." .

He adds: “Nobody is going to watch a movie called “Butt Boy� in pursuit of sophisticated wit. That said, this feature spinoff from a prior sketch by the collaborative comedy-video team known as Tiny Cinema does manage to be just about the drollest execution possible of the most juvenile concept imaginable.�

This film was written and directed by Tyler Cornack who acts in the central role of a computer office worker,Chip Gutchell, rather catatonic in his lack of involvement in celebrations at work, in his relationship with his wife who is preoccupied with their son. A visit to the doctor and a probe for prostate issues, he has a transformation, comes alive, wants to repeat the experience with his wife and willing, but then various objects around the house, larger and larger, including the pet dog, seem to disappear into his colon area. A child disappears from the park. Chip tries to hang himself.

There is a transition to 9 years later where Chip is still at work, the same staff and spirit, life with his wife and his admiring son, but his going to AA for therapy. He meets an ex-alcoholic detective, Tyler Rice, who is investigating the disappearance of the child. Then, at a bring your child to work day, another disappears. The detective has a theory, not wrong, about Chip who had is his support but who ignores his phone calls. The detective’s boss angrily dismisses his theory about what has happened.

The last part of the film becomes quite surreal, inside Chip’s colon, like a bright red cave, the detective discovering all the missing objects. He lets the dog return home. In the meantime, captured is being honoured by the city for honourable work. Meanwhile, inside the colon, the detective causes it all to literally explode as Chip stands at the lectern, about to make a speech.

The film was part of festivals, Fantastic Festivals, but is not as overtly gory as so many of the entries. Rather, this is make of it what we will.