In South African director Ryan Kruger’s sophomore feature, Fried Barry is a junkie asshole who heads out on a drug-fueled bender, only to be abducted by aliens. Barry’s consciousness is then forced to passively observe as an alien visitor takes his body on a Cape Town joyride of clubbing, sex, criminality, chainsaw fights and general mayhem.
Fried Barry comes over as Under The Skin by way of Human Traffic, Crank, 12 Monkeys and I’m A Cyborg And That’s OK. Is it as amazing as that sounds? Not always – the meandering narrative cares little for plot, preferring to string together techno-fueled druggy moments.
This may be an ideal movie for fried viewers, in fact, as if your memory keeps resetting itself while watching it you won’t miss that much. – you could reshuffle a number of the scenes without losing much coherence. That said, lead actor Gary Green has a mesmerically watchable face, and the film’s pumping neon soundtrack, amusing sense of chaos and sudden bursts of body horror all combine to deliver a wild ride.
Recommended for anyone who needs to be put off benders, or indeed Cape Town.
Fried Barry is available to stream now on Shudder. Trailer below:
Whitlock&Pope 