Tusk (2014)

Day 142 of Sobriety.   

 

So, I had heard a little bit about Tusk before I watched it, and I had gathered that it was a strange and divisive film, despite having quite mainstream credentials—it was directed by Kevin Smith who made Clerks (1994) and the Jay and Silent Bob films, among others, and it co-stars Johnny Depp. I was curious about Tusk because it is distributed by A24, and I tend to really like A24’s horror output.

 

The bizarre plot follows an obnoxious, arrogant podcaster who travels to Canada to conduct an interview for his show. In Canada, he happens to meet an eccentric retired sailor, who he believes will make excellent subject matter for his podcast, which seems to focus on jeering at eccentric people. Unfortunately for the podcaster, the sailor has his own sinister plans for him, that involve his obsession with a walrus who once saved his life.

 

The film is part comedy, part horror (with the body-horror element being particularly strong), and I guess part social satire too? A significant portion of the comedy involves poking fun at Canadians. No idea why they are being targeted, though. Some of it is kind of funny—at first. The plot reminded me of an absurd version of Stephen King’s Misery, and the horror elements are somewhat reminiscent of the Human Centipede films. I guess much of the humor is too.

 

It's a disturbing film because of the way it mixes its tones—absurd comedy, gross body horror, and tragic pathos. It almost seems designed to make the viewer feel emotionally confused—am I supposed to laugh, be scared, be disgusted, feel pity? This in itself is pretty unsettling, and the film will probably leave a bad taste in many viewer’s mouths. I’ve read a few comments from people who said that they “wished they could unsee it.” So, if disturbing the audience in that way is the objective, then it succeeds. But that’s a pretty mean-spirited aim for a film to have, and if it is trying to achieve something beyond that, then it’s not really clear to me what it is. It was a pretty laborious watch. The comedy is hit-and-miss, the horror is gross and disturbing, and the whole thing rang kind of hollow and cynical to me.

 

 The film is the first of an intended trilogy, the overarching theme of which seems to be poking fun at Canada. The second film, Yoga Hosers (2016) stars Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-Rose Depp, and is apparently pretty dire, and the third is… oh, who cares.