[FANTASIA 2019] ‘HARPOON’ Review

[youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S03Y-NvpTA” hd=”1″]

A close-knit triplet of friends, couple Richard (Christopher Gray) and Sasha (Emily Tyra), along with friend Jonah (Munro Chambers), get into an argument when Richard believes that Jonah is sleeping with his girlfriend. After beating the living hell out of him, he discovers it was all a misunderstanding in order to keep a present a secret: a harpoon (speargun). He feels bad about his reaction. The three then head out for a pleasure cruise in Richard’s nicely furnished yacht The Naughty Buoy. After Richard allows Jonah and Sasha to punch him for payback, the trio is having a great time fishing and bonding. But then Richard again begins to suspect something between Sasha and Jonah has been happening, resulting in an altercation that ends with a pretty bad injury, someone overboard, and lots of distrust. To then make matters worse, the boat won’t start and they’re stranded in the middle of the ocean.

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What exactly IS Harpoon? Comedy? Horror? Thriller? Drama? This is a question I found myself wondering in the moments after I finished it. I laughed a bunch, I gasped, and I felt the suspense build throughout. It’s light and yet really grim at the same time. The tightrope walk between thriller and dialogue-based comedy is fantastically achieved, somehow. There’s nothing particularly visually interesting about the way the movie looks aside for some interesting flashback/sidesteps, but the trio of cast members (and narrator Brett Gelman) fit so perfectly into the molds of their roles that writer/director Rob Grant delivers. I became familiar with Grant through a 2017 documentary(ish) called Fake Blood, a not entirely successful but very interesting concept about the responsibility and effects of the horror films he makes. Harpoon is much more successful as a whole, ending on a wonderful note to send you out smiling…albeit maybe devilishly.

There is one particular moment of brutality in Harpoon that is obviously spoiler territory, and I won’t dare speak any more of it besides saying the effect is amazing. The secret weapon that makes the movie soar is the occasional injections from Gelman’s awesome narration — which you can hear in the trailer above — providing anecdotes about the backstory involving Richard’s ex-girlfriend disappearing, his mobster father, and insight into the subtext and hidden depths to the events unfolding. There’s a great runner about drinking blood for hydration that is so far out, and so very funny when it appears. This is what sets the movie apart, creates some sort of meta-statement piece, and overall wraps the movie into a tidy package. It’s a package you’ll want to open, soon.

Good news! In addition to playing at Fantasia 2019, Dread Central Presents and Epic Pictures has picked up Harpoon for release later this year! Keep a lookout!