Written and directed by Steve Hunyi, a former homeless man, now a documentary filmmaker, delves into the harsh realities of life on the streets, uncovering dark secrets and forming unexpected alliances as he strives to give a voice to the voiceless. Starring: Michael Strelow, Diogo Sales, Dario Giuseppe Roberto, Peter M. Smith, Tal Profs and Alina Razumenko.
Going into Garbage Rex, it was a smart choice by Steve Hunyi to try not to scandalize or overly brutalize this story, to put the focus not on the violence but on the victims. The writing unfolds the cyclical nature of abuse and homelessness, as well as the generally apathetic view of society towards the houseless. Then expands that further into the sexual nature of abuse that’s typically experienced by younger people and those with addiction struggles.
Interestingly, there’s something to the style of the writing that splits itself between being in the everyday and adding a tone that’s almost dystopian, with an edge of mystery. It creates an unusual blend, with a hint of the sinister which gradually grows. The way that the story plays out is also quite theatrical in nature, there’s an attempt to build a bigger conspiracy and portray the wider ranging nature of the issues. It can occasionally dip into more emotional territory which is at odds with the rest of Garbage Rex, that softened style feels like too much of a contrast to Hunyi’s otherwise cold, harsh tale.
Visually, Hunyi embraces the bleakness to his story, the palette contains a lot of blues and greys. It lives within the everyday but employs a lens of austerity, dulling down the colours and almost feeling like something you’d find in a video game with a gloomy story. Although the opening scenes don’t quite match that energy, they have a brighter nature which makes for a slightly jarring transition.
Garbage Rex also struggles a little with the editing to match its tone, it tends to land off the beat. Especially when it’s combined with the mixed quality of the audio, it’s missing the opportunity to add some sharpness and punch to the film. Occasionally, it’s playing things more quietly than it needed to, as if there’s the confidence missing to go for a truly hard hit. There’s a lot of dark potential to this story but not all of it reaches the screen, the malicious undercurrent and its note of mystery don’t play into things as strongly as expected.
Although Diogo Sales does a good job of trying to capture the predatory, sleazy and controlling presence of Blonde. Portraying the casual cruelty of preying upon the most vulnerable, and Sales does well to tap into the disgusting nature of it. However, he perhaps gets a bit more screentime than his character needed, it would have been great to see a little more of Dario Giuseppe Roberto’s Patrick. He’s an interesting character and Roberto brings a solid presence to the table, but he ultimately ends up quite secondary to Sales and Michael Strelow’s Tate.
Tate is another example of where it feels like Garbage Rex is holding back. The tone of the writing and Strelow’s performance are fairly tame, he never truly comes out of his shell. His actions arguably speak for themselves, but it would have been satisfying to also see that come out in his performance as well, as it’s mostly offscreen. Tal Profs was a good addition, he creates quite a unique character in Rex, and it feels as though he had a lot more to offer if given the time. He’s quietly a big part of the story, he brings the different elements together, but he holds onto his mystery, and we never really get to know his background.
Garbage Rex explores the cycle of abuse suffered in the homeless community as an understated thriller. Capturing the bleak nature of the topic and portraying the need for protection within such a vulnerable section of society. The cinematography embraces that harrowing nature, the direction creates a sinister, mysterious edge and the atmosphere is slightly on edge. The performances are solid, but it does struggle with the quality of its editing and audio. It’s great to see the film attempt not to exploit the issues but at the same time, it does feel like it’s dipping its toes into something intensely dark and not taking the leap to reach the full potential of its menacing nature.
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