FANTASIA26 REVIEW: Permanent Damage [20XX]

Rating: NR | Runtime: 98 minutes
Studio: VVS Films
Director(s): Seth A Smith
Writer(s): Seth A Smith & Darcy Spidle

Balls to the wall.

Luck shines on Tommy Gods (Calem MacDonald) after an inventive jailbreak lands him in a nearby town still wearing prison orange. Not only does he shadily duck into a convenience store and swipe a trucker hat in front of a security guard (Eugene Sampang), but he runs straight into an old woman’s cart during his attempted escape. It all could have ended there if Mrs. Whynot (Clare Coulter) didn’t stare that guard in the eye and tell him to stop harassing her son.

Director Seth A Smith and regular co-writer Darcy Spidle could have played it off as a middle finger to law enforcement. That Mrs. Whynot saw Tommy start to pick up the groceries he dumped instead of running away and chose to do him a solid. But that’s not these filmmakers’ way. Those familiar with their marbleized horror The Crescent and claustrophobic sci-fi Tin Can will know this, but they still might not anticipate the comedic potential of revealing it’s not an act.

No, Mrs. Whynot truly believes Tommy is her son Donnie. It’s not an inherently funny twist considering dementia is no laughing matter and the circumstances she finds herself in as a result are extremely tragic, but Smith and Spidle understand how you can simultaneously treat serious topics with authenticity while also having fun with the world around them. Because Tommy is too sweet to let her suffer alone. He’s too sweet to simply save himself.

This virtue of his doesn’t initially lead to comedy, though. Yes, there are some strange details in this world like a neighbor kid (Woodrow Graves’s Lawrence) maiming people with a Super Soaker full of bleach and a barely intelligible drug dealer who’s inexplicably glued to a chair (Chik White’s aptly named Chair), but they serve as intriguing color in an otherwise dark thriller pitting Tommy against a ruthless property owner known as LL (Stephen Dorff).

A series of blackmail situations unfolds once Tommy’s identity is revealed. Add a love interest in Joe (Olivia Scriven)—who’s also LL’s niece—and the friction that began with the threat of forcibly evicting Mrs. Whynot grows to a fever pitch as both sides become more willing to use violence as a means of getting their way. Soon a double-cross comes into play too courtesy of a mystery benefactor in Mr. Freeman (Stephen McHattie) and a dream to leave this life behind.

It’s all pretty straightforward for a while there. I enjoyed the flirtations with surreal humor, but I won’t lie and say I wasn’t disappointed there wasn’t more to the narrative itself. Smith and company are on top of it, though, because they flip that switch pretty much as soon as the thought crossed my mind. What it is LL is selling is shown, characters from before are reintroduced in goofy ways (How many jobs does Sampang’s guard have?), and new ones enter the fray.

Whether it’s Generous’ (Quancetia Hamilton) sing-song cleaner (take that term however you like since she dabbles in multiple definitions) or Silverman’s (Jonni Shreve) gentle-yet-bizarre giant, the surprises come in quick bursts of incredulous looks as even Tommy and Joe often find themselves shaking their heads at what’s happening. You’d be forgiven for thinking you pre-gamed some “brown dot” yourself that suddenly kicked in for a wild second half.

Just because things get absurdly comedic, however, doesn’t mean the drama loses its bite. Dorff is playing it straight from the get-go and is no stranger to asserting his will upon allies and foes alike. MacDonald falls prey to the temper that led Tommy to jail in the first place (although his innocence always ensures his rage is much tamer than expected). And Scriven toes the line between Joe wanting to be better than her uncle and embracing the greed that makes him a monster.

So, while Permanent Damage meanders into tonally disparate sequences that have you trying to stifle a chuckle, its overall trajectory remains towards a collision course that will inevitably leave bodies on the ground. It’s the sort of film that takes its heightened sense of entertainment seriously and its dark drama with a dash of mirth so you aren’t left wondering whether you’re laughing with or at it. You should be having as much fun as McHattie in his blow-up pool.

With some cool flourishes (I’ve never seen spray foam insulation used like that) and a game cast throwing itself into its quirky characters, this is definitely Smith’s most accessible film. That doesn’t mean self-serious viewers won’t bristle at the humor or those enjoying the fun won’t squirm at the blood, but it’s a blast for someone who loves a self-aware and genre-fluid film that keeps you on your toes. So, get Donnie a new hat, save Goose, and protect Mrs. Whynot at all costs.