[FrightFest 2025] FILM REVIEW: Blockhead

Blockhead - FrightFest World Premiere Review

Director: Matt Harlock

Starring: Danny Horn, Hussina Raja, Joe Simms, Michele Moran, Simon Lukacs

Written by: Matt Harlock

Produced by: Matt Harlock, Oliver Kendall

Cinematography by: Stuart White

Original Score by: Adam Stafford

Synopsis:

A failing novelist desperate for inspiration thinks his muse appears to him in the form of a drunk, psychotic decorator. As his novel takes shape, his life spirals and erupts into a violent chaos, but his next piece could just possibly be genius.

Thoughts:

From acclaimed documentarian Matt Harlock (American: The Bill Hicks Story) comes a psychological thriller that explores the dark realm of a creative artist suffering with writers block who is forced to go to some dark places in the recess of his mind to deliver his latest novel. But is it a bestseller?

'Blockhead' is an impressive debut feature, there's no doubt about that, and the concept is creepy and relatable to some extent but it's also all a bit too familiar. I feel like it's taken elements of other really good films like 'Barton Fink', 'Fight Club', 'The Dark Half' and even 'American Psycho', which is absolutely fine but I'm not sure it really builds on those elements in an original way.

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Danny Horn plays Will Mercer, a bestselling author who hasn't quite been able to replicate his one hit wonder again and now he is edging closer and closer to the deadline with his publisher. He's currently earning his keep mentoring other budding writers and even his boss thinks he is failing at that too. His agent is putting him under pressure and his girlfriend perhaps isn't being the most understanding person she could be. Will is falling into a bit of a depression and he needs to find a way out quickly. With the deadline approaching he decides to bury himself into his latest manuscript and he needs peace and quiet. His writer mate Mags (Michele Moran) allows him to use her other apartment. This peace and quiet gets interrupted almost immediately by Mikey, a larger than life, jolly painter and decorator who has been hired to do some work in Mags' apartment. Although jovial, Mikey does have a very intimidating presence. There's a tension between the two to begin with but after a pint at a local pub and a run in with some cheeky arseholes mouthing off, Will and Mikey become mates.

The pressure to deliver something soon becomes insurmountable and Will is really struggling but his new found relationship with Mikey proves to be a blessing in disguise as Will begins to practice what he preaches and discovers his true self.

I was struggling a little bit with the performances here. They're not bad by any stretch of the imagination, they're just delivered with a little too much ambivalence. They're not emotionless either but more often than not felt like a performance, like theatre. Sometimes the silence between the dialogue is as important as just delivering dialogue and I think some scenes were a little too eager to go into the next scene without letting the tension just breathe.

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Harlock's direction is on point. Clearly a very talented filmmaker but I wasn't a huge fan of the script sadly. The actual writing is very good in terms of dialogue but there's little to no subtlety in the set up to where this is going. Will begins a classic descent into madness which we often see from struggling creative types, usually novelists or artists, and his novel, which focusses on a criminal, takes an even darker turn. The film's biggest and most intriguing gimmick is the surreal nature of the events that unfold as Will delivers pages. This is definitely a film that hangs on the question "What is real and what is in his mind?" and it harbours on Will's decision to finally reveal the trauma he went through 6 years prior.

The recurring theme here is to find your true self. I was trying to think if this was a metaphor for something else like gender or sexuality or just personality. There were certainly moments where Mikey invaded Will's intimate space and his relationship with a male student could also bolster this theory that perhaps Will is actually struggling to accept his feelings. Or maybe the theme is more on the nose with Will just being a bad writer who steals other people's work.

'Blockhead' is well made with good ideas that are executed successfully but ultimately I felt a disconnect with Will which made his outcome uninteresting to me.

Verdict: ⭐️⭐️½

-Gavin Logan

'Blockhead' received its World Premiere at FrightFest '25 on August 23rd