First conceived as a short film in 2008 writer-director Ryan Kruger found critic and audience success with Fried Barry. The short centered on heroin addict (Gary Green) as he stumbles around a post apocalyptic building fueled by a foreign chemical substance that is clearly in control. For the feature, Kruger expands on the short making the port agonist playground all of Cape Town.
Barry starts his day seemingly like any other. He sits at the breakfast table ignoring his wife Suz (Chanelle de Jager) and child as she berates him in both Afrikaans and English to be a better Dad and partner. Seemingly having had enough he storms out to his local watering hole where he meets up with a fellow traveler who has the great idea that the pair should head back to his hole in the wall place to share needles and do heroin. After the hit, things immediately become murky what the audience experiences for the remainder of the film. Next Barry is wandering on the street in the dead of night, is sucked up by a beam of light arms and legs flailing as he rises, then probed in all manners by shiny metallic instruments before the alien tries on his body for size returning to earth to explore.
What follows is a drug-filled, raving mix of sex and alien research into life on earth as the visitor sees Cape Town through Barry's eyes picking up words, phrases, and mannerisms from those he meets as a newborn does from his parents. Barry ends up in bars, dance clubs, amongst street urchins, heroin addicts, taken captive, in jail, in a mental hospital plus several encounters with prostitutes and the local pimp.
Kruger keeps the dialog to a minimum leaving Green to express the experiences of his alien snatcher through body and facial expressions. Green is perfect for the role looking older than his age clad in his ever present jean jacket wandering his old haunts behaving a little stranger than usual but not so much to have friends and family key into what's up. Chanelle de Jager gives a passionate performance as his wife. Wanting the romance back with Barry from days gone by. She pushes him hard but will always stand by him as he's her man.
Fried Barry is a frantic kinetic journey through the underbelly of Cape Town. It's unclear if the events play out on screen occur or is Barry still on the couch at his friends in a near comatose drug haze. Gary Green gives a physically challenging performance as Barry that borders on contortionist. Underpinned by a driving if not jarring soundtrack by Haezer and a visual rainbow of colours from Gareth Places' lens it,s a wild ride if you wanna have some fun.
*** Out of 4.
Fried Barry | Ryan Kruger| South Africa | 2020 | 99 Minutes.
Tags: Heroin, Space Ship, Alien Abduction, Body Snatching, Birth, South Africa, Cape Town, Rave, Milky Milk.
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