This is a weird one, so strap in.
Fried Barry is the feature debut of writer-director Ryan Krueger and follows the story of Barry (Gary Green), a heroin-addicted and abusive man in South Africa who is abducted and possessed by an alien who then proceeds to take Barry’s body on a spin ’round Cape Town. What seems to start out as a character study quickly becomes a high-concept “road movie” on feet, gleefully attempting to overload your senses as you’re dragged along for the journey just as Barry himself is.
Indeed, Fried Barry is a visual and aural assault, and while it can get a bit overwhelming (on purpose though it may be) I did quite like the visuals in this movie. There’s a great neon glow to a lot of the shots and “Barry” doing club drugs is as stimulating as it surely must be for the alien inside.
I also did laugh several times thanks to the film’s wonderful absurdist bent, but of course, your results may vary depending on your tolerance for fish-out-of-water jokes. There’s also plenty of sex and violence to keep your attention if the vibrant colors and fast pace weren’t enough—though typically it’s paired with comedy as well, in varying shades of effectiveness.
While the movie isn’t perfect, it has a lot of fun moments and the visuals are worth the price of admission. Without giving away too much, let’s just say one scene in particular put me in mind of XTRO and you know I love me some XTRO.
The movie clips right along and at only an hour and thirty-nine minutes, doesn’t overstay its welcome. So, take the trip and let Fried Barry fry you. You’ll remember this one for a while.
