And they said original ideas were gone.
Tyler Cornack has the status of having created a cult film in his mind with his indie-thriller Butt Boy. Taking triple duties here as co-writer/director/actor, Tyler plays the lead role of Chip Gutchell, a man who grows to discover a penchant for sticking things up his butt. First, it’s a finger, then it’s the remote control, and then it’s the family dog. Yep, the family dog.
See, what goes in, doesn’t come out, with his derrière working as some kind of magicians bag of tricks, seemingly capable of endlessly holding anything and everything in it. Before too long, he becomes the weirdest serial hoarder in existence, and sucks up a toddler. He knows that this can’t be the future he leads, and tries to take his life.
Nine years fly by, Chip’s restrained himself from sticking things up his butt, and the toddlers father, Detective Russel B. Fox (Tyler Rice), is on the case trying to solve crimes, all the while battling with his alcoholism. He takes to attending AA meetings, where he’s paired with Chip as his sponsor. The two are then thrust on a journey of discovery, with Chip reviving his interest in butt play, and Russel gradually finding out the truth behind his missing kid.
All of this sounds more interesting on paper than it actually is. Butt Boy runs for about ninety minutes, with the first fifty dragging through some rote and routine bland procedural sequences. While the synopsis suggests a darkly comedic tale, this is a film that belies the absurdity of its title, instead presenting a narrative draped heavily in ultra-seriousness. It’s easy to see what tone Cornack is aiming for, trying to strike a tone of seventies-era police dramas, with Chip playing the role of the serial killer that Dirty Harry wannabe Russel has to hunt down. Tyler Rice does a solid job of playing the cigarette smoking, goatee-wearing, hot sauce addicted, gruff cop, even if he’s simply playing a stereotype rather than a genuine character.
Oddly, the biggest weak point is Cornack himself. While his direction is on point, it’s hampered by a script that needed an extra polish or two, with supporting characters and narrative threads coming across as time wasters rather than adding to the plot. Additionally, as the lead, Cornack simply struggles to engage, instead presenting his despicable main character in a sympathetic light. Yes, there’s no shame in enjoying butt stuff, but when that butt stuff turns into swallowing up pets and kids into the voice lingering behind your anus, well, it’s hard to cheer you on then.
Fortunately, while Butt Boy has a tepid opening two thirds, it really comes home in the final act, with Cornack leading the film – quite literally – up its own ass. This squelchy sequence shows to be the reason why Butt Boy was made at all is presented. Now, I won’t go into spoiler territory, but I will say that if the notion of a wannabe cult film focused on a crime drama about butt adventures sounds interesting, then you’ll be greatly rewarded come the goopy, gory, Stranger Things-tinged climax. Be warned though, if you are sensitive to strobe lighting, there is a minute or so of extensive effects employed here.
There’s a movement on the indie film scene for this kind of spitballed concept of a narrative, and Tyler Cornack clearly wants to sidle his way into that field. Unfortunately, Butt Boy is not bizarre enough to embrace the weird and truly become the genuinely oddball film that I can recommend wholeheartedly. I did enjoy my time with it, and it’s a harmless enough film, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that this is a short film stretched beyond its boundaries, with not enough to flesh out the moments in between the important plot points.
And, look, if you’re going to engage in butt play, do your research first and do it safely.
Director: Tyler Cornack
Cast: Tyler Cornack, Tyler Rice, Shelby Dash
Writers: Tyler Cornack, Ryan Koch
