Written and directed by Ciaran Lyons, co-written by stars Lorn Macdonald and Orlando Norman. When a self-centred tattoo artist (Macdonald) discovers his latest client is a world-famous musician (Norman), his fixation on getting a selfie with his client embroils the pair into a bizarre and dangerous game. Also starring Michael Akinsulire.
If you’re a person who is irritated by repetition, there’s one issue to quickly get out of the way with Tummy Monster, you will hear the same phrase endlessly throughout the film. It has a very clear purpose, but it becomes tiresome, so it may be a thorn in the side for anyone trying to enjoy this who struggles to deal with that type of child-like repetition. To a certain degree, it didn’t need to take over the dialogue that extensively, and it does become a disappointing choice as the film progresses. It’s really the only issue that the film holds, it doesn’t expand far enough.
There’s a hint at a bigger mystery or layers to this story but they never really come to fruition. It spends a lot of time on the aggressive back and forth and doesn’t expand to a true battle of the wills or unravelling psychological game. The beginnings of both are there but they don’t evolve with time, they stretch themselves out then come to a relatively simple conclusion. It’s almost like a modernised, youthful version of 2013’s Locke.
Trapping its character in a singular location, forcing them to look inward and focus on the choices they’ve made, the isolation they’ve built and relationships they’ve fractured. It was a great choice, it simply needed to develop further rather than simply pushing the same buttons. Although, they do throw a couple of good wrenches in the works along the way.
Outside of that, everything else does exactly what it needs to do. Ciaran Lyons’ direction is excellent, it has fantastic movement and intensity to it. Lyons injects a lot of style into Tummy Monster, and it’s complimented by an excellent score which really ramps up the tension. Something that it has plenty of and never relents all throughout the film. The cinematography is strong to capture the messiness but also add a colour and pointed edge. It ticks all the right boxes to build a palpable air of thrill and dangerous potential.
A lot of that also comes from Orlando Norman’s performance, he smartly portrays that suaveness and composure with a dark veil. He brings that feel of never quite knowing what’s up his sleeve and that’s a huge part of Tummy Monster’s draw. Norman deserves a great deal of credit for that while the repetition of his character’s one key line is infuriating, his performance never is. He creates this fascinating persona who feels like he’s saying so much more without ever actually saying it.
Lorn Macdonald’s Tales is much simpler, he’s a pawn in this story, being forever pushed as close to the edge as they can take him. It was an interesting choice to not make his character inherently sympathetic, he’s selfish and shallow. It perhaps does take something away that he’s not an easy person to root for, so it leaves you stuck in the middle, along for the journey rather than willing one or the other to win. In that sense, his performance can’t offer quite as much as Norman’s. Particularly the choices in the finale make him feel like he’s been pulled from a comedy which slightly dulls Tummy Monster’s sharper edge.
Tummy Monster is stylish, intense and aggressive. It’s very well directed, the atmosphere is densely thick with tension and the cinematography nicely captures that grimy edge. There’s a really smart concept at work, and a very relevant point about appearances, expectations, freedom of choice and priorities. However, there’s a few choices in its execution which feel as though they’re holding it back from something exceptional. Regardless, as a debut feature, it’s a genuinely strong piece of filmmaking.
FilmCarnage.com 