PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn’t exist. PopHorror fully supports the WGA and SAG-AFTRA and their efforts.
What’s it like to hear voices? Honestly, I can’t even imagine. It would be incredibly annoying to say the least. In Pirie Martin’s dark comedy, Psychosis, Cliff Van Arle can hear voices, and they actually give him good advice. Sometimes. premiered at the 2023 Popcorn Frights Film Festival on August 12, 2023.
Synopsis:
A criminal fixer who experiences auditory hallucinations must confront old demons when a new contract drags him into a surreal maelstrom of mind-altering drugs, delusional vigilantes and a sadistic hypnotist who seems more monster than man.
Psychosis was written and directed by Australian filmmaker Pirie Martin (Raising The Bar 2016) and stars Derryn Amoroso (Offstage 2020), newcomer Kate Holly Hall, Henry Errington (Andy’s Venture 2017), Michael Wilkop (Crime At A Funeral 2020), James McCluskey-Garcia (Roadkill 2022), and PJ Van Gyen (Neighbors TV series).
What Works
Psychosis opens on a man, Cliff Van Arle (Amoroso), sitting in a chair staring into a coffee cup. He’s silent, but there are several different voices speaking at once, overlapping and cutting each other off. A posh voice begins to narrate what we’re seeing on screen. The voices stop as the man begins to speak, explaining his proclivity for being hyperaware of things around him all while he hears voices—paracusia—telling him what to do and a narrator that dictates everything in his life to him.
“I hear my thoughts in other people’s voices speaking to me.”
Luckily for Van Arle, these voices have his bests interests in mind… even if they don’t always agree. They watch out for him, giving him the advantage of being able to focus on many things at once. Of course, they question his every move in a constant barrage of doubt and self-pity. He never knows if he’s doing the right thing… as if he didn’t have the voices giving him suggestions to him at all.
The VO narration reminds me of Stranger Than Fiction (2006) where Wil Farrell’s character starts hearing his mundane life being narrated out in his mind. While Stranger Than Fiction used this concept to move the plot along (literally), Psychosis uses it almost constantly, which makes for a rather confusing, overdone yet truthful narrative. It’s not like someone suffering from paracusia could choose when and where these voices would speak out. But in fiction, hearing them more than anything else got boring quickly.
There are some great characters in Psychosis, from the two dimwitted drug dealers, Aaron (Wilkop) and Brodie (Errington), to the mysterious maverick LoneWolf (Gyen) to Joubini (McCluskey-Garcia), the mesmerizing drug kingpin who may or may not be human. I am especially impressed with Derryn Amoroso, who almost single-handedly carried this movie on his own muddled shoulders. Portraying a man wracked by guilt, self-loathing, and doubt wreck himself to save two bumbling drug dealers was a difficult task to balance, and Amoroso does a fantastic job.
Psychosis is in black and white, which I think was inspiring, helping to portray Van Arle’s despair and confusion. However, his first confrontation with Joubini causes these colorful shapes to flash before our hero’s eyes over and over again. This does so much to add to the tension and terror of the film, leaving afterimages in the viewer’s eyes and making them just as blind and disoriented as Van Arles. Such a small thing had a huge impact, and I think it’s genius.
What Doesn’t Work
As I mentioned earlier, I think the voiceovers and narration were a bit overdone here. I like it for its realisim, but as a movie watcher, it got old fast. I wish more had been made of Van Arles’ hyperawareness rather than just the voices trying to confuse him all the time. I love the scene where he fights Skeleton (Dorian Tisato) and his crew and he’s immediately aware of who’s where and what weapons they have. Showing more of this almost superhuman ability would have made Van Arles more of a strong man with a problem than a mess of a guy who probably doesn’t deserve to win at anything at all.
My last comment has to do with Joubini’s speech pattern. I don’t know why, but this guy talks so slowly. Every word has a beat in between like he’s speaking in slow motion. This took me out of the film, especially the scene where Joubini confronts LoneWolf, which should have been great, but becomes muddled and slow.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for an excellent dark comedy with a bumbling antihero, a disturbing mentalist of a villain and some possible zombies, do yourself a favor and check out Pirie Martin’s Psychosis.
Psychosis premiered at the 2023 Popcorn Frights Film Festival on August 12, 2023.
