[FrightFest Halloween '25] FILM REVIEW: Every Heavy Thing

Every Heavy Thing - FrightFest Halloween UK Premiere

Director: Micky Reece

Starring: Josh Fadem, Vera Drew, John Ennis, James Urbaniak, Tipper Newton, Barbara Crampton

Written by: Micky Reece

Produced by: Andrew Appleyard, David Bond, Kassie Gann, Peter Kuplowsky, John Moss, Juan Pablo Reinoso

Cinematography by: Samuel Calvin

Original Score by: Nicholas Poss

Synopsis:

Set against a string of women's disappearances in Hightown City. Joe, an ad-seller for the last alt-weekly in the state, unwillingly becomes entangled in conspiracy after witnessing a murder.

Thoughts:

Although I hadn't seen any of Mickey Reece's previous work, I had read that he has become quite the indie darling in recent years. I can see why while watching 'Every Heavy Thing' but while I appreciated certain aspects of the film, there were other aspects that frustrated me too much to fully enjoy it.

Josh Fadem plays Joe, a newspaper ad salesman in his early 40s, who seems to have become a tad disgruntled with his job and life in general. Despite being in a relationship with his partner Lux (Tipper Newton) for 8 years, he claims that he doesn't know what they are when he bumps into Alex (Vera Drew) an old high school friend. His mundane life is about to change drastically when, after a night out watching a beautiful lounge singer (Barbara Crampton) with his office colleague, he witnesses a masked man murdering the singer in cold blood.

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The murderer, who casually reveals himself, threatens Joe and promises that if he says anything then he'll be next. Clearly this threat hangs heavy on Joe's shoulders as his life begins to unravel in the wake of the horrendous circumstances. But this is just one murder in a string of crimes against women, who have all been thought to have just disappeared, and Joe's outlet, the Metro Weekly, begins an investigation. Can Joe keep his mouth shut for his own safety or will he do what needs to be done to take this killer down for good?

This film has got the fingerprints of David Lynch and Brian De Palma all over it, although Reece being an independent filmmaker doesn't hit those levels for obvious reasons. The premise has similarities to the likes of 'Blue Velvet' and 'Body Double' but ultimately is more simple and grounded cinematically. It has some interesting themes about big tech, identity crisis, sexuality and media responsibilities that I really appreciated. It's a dark film, visually and metaphorically, but there's humour present too, which gives a nice tonal balance overall.

When Joe's colleague Cheyenne (Kalene Snarsky) begins her investigation into the flood of disappearances in the city, Joe's everyday life becomes more complicated, surreal even, to the point where he struggles with his own reality. He begins to see Schaffer, the murderer, in his dreams and visions of him in his apartment. His demeanour changes and Lux notices.

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Josh Fadem is fantastic as the lead. He sort of reminded me a bit of Griffen Dunne from 'After Hours', just a normal easy going guy dealing with an unimaginable experience. He's very likeable and even though he's going through something dark and incomprehensible, there's still a visible charm to his performance.

I am not usually a fan of over-editing and while I can understand Reece's reasons for it here, it made me want to turn away more often than not. There's alot of RGB filters used in the film that were just distracting. Reece attempts to tie in the invasion of big tech companies to Hightown City by using VHS overlays and other visual effects too during some of killer's moments and nightmare sequences. I assume this was to also add some surreal elements but it felt a little forced and I've seen a lot of that style recently.

'Every Heavy Thing' is clearly an homage to some of Reece's favourite films. I'm almost certain there was also a lovely little nod to Donald Sutherland from 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' too. Although I had issues with the film, I'm sure it'll land well and Reece is definitely a voice I'll be looking out for in the future.

Verdict: ⭐️⭐️½

-Gavin Logan

'Every Heavy Thing' recevied its UK Premiere at FrightFest Halloween on October 31st