Drugs are bad for you. Fairly obvious, I know, but it’s a fact that is regularly being reinforced by cinema. The Hollywood narrative is such that characters who are addicts or dealers are almost certainly going to meet a grizzly end. Occasionally, a film comes along which manages to accurately capture the essence of addiction. The most notable examples being Trainspotting and Requiem for A Dream. Fired Barry takes things to another level.
Barry (Gary Green) is a drug-addict, a dreadful father, a cheating partner and an all-round abusive asshole. A fact that’s not lost on his girlfriend (Chanelle de Jager) or anyone who knows him. It’s a normal day for our hapless heroine addict. That is until, after ‘frying’ his brain, he is abducted by aliens who decide to take over his body. What follows is a romp through the seedier side of Cape Town, with the extra-terrestrial in control set for an experience which will be out of this world.
Based on Ryan Kruger’s own short film, Fried Barry is a force of nature. Music fuels Barry’s onslaught into the South African night; pulsating throughout his adventures. There’s nothing even approaching subtlety in this vision. It gets in your face and stays there for the duration. Indeed, it’s the kind of film which will work best with a large crowd who are more than a little inebriated. Fried Barry is basically a series of increasingly bonkers set-pieces, but lurking underneath there’s an element of truth.
Fried Barry screens at Fantasia Festival.
