Alchemist Cookbook, The (2016)
Drew Tinnin
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Starring Ty Hickson, Amari Cheatom
Written and directed by Joel Potrykus
Screened at Fantasia 2016
If you’ve experienced and then recommended writer/director Joel Potrykus’ other films like Ape and Buzzard from his pretentiously proclaimed “Animal Trilogy,” you’ll probably find he’s covering some similar ground with his latest, The Alchemist Cookbook, centering around another eccentric character who plays by his own rules, only to eventually lead himself down a path to ruin.
With Buzzard, the film’s lead takes slackerdom to an art form, obsessing over creating DIY Freddy Krueger finger knives out of a Nintendo power glove; in Cookbook, a young black kid haphazardly delves into the dark arts by way of kitchen lab alchemy to disastrous results. Both films have compelling premises and leads, but Buzzard especially succeeds in places that Potrykus’ new film does not, largely because his proclivity towards following the mundane rather than serving the story doesn’t complement the elements of fantasy found as this film progresses.
Premiering at this year’s Fantasia International Film Fest, The Alchemist Cookbook follows the bizarre day-to-day life of a twentysomething hermit as he divides his time between amateur chemistry experiments, playing with his cat Kaspar, and eating bags of Doritos. Actor Ty Hickson as Sean in these early scenes doesn’t say a lot, but Potrykus establishes immediately that this kid has some serious issues, including an unhealthy obsession with the occult. His only connection to the outside world is a sidelined thug named Cortez (Cheatom), who drives out to Sean’s remote cabin to give him his rigid list of supplies and medication. As the nights roll by, Sean screams into the night, seemingly inciting a battle with an imaginary foe. Combining his chemistry with incantations and fire, it begins to look like he may have a connection with the underworld as well.
The horror of Sean’s situation starts to manifest as the film slowly progresses. The sounds of some kind of creature begin to echo around him, sounding far off during the day and ever closer at night. There are two great scenes in The Alchemist Cookbook – one involving a much more frightening side of Cortez (played wonderfully by Cheatom) and another showing a very creepy standoff between Sean and… something. Both of these scenes are wonderfully shot and rooted firmly in the realm of horror fantasy. The problem is that Potrykus chooses to pump the brakes when things start to get interesting instead of pushing the intrigue.
Once Sean spirals further into a game he began but now can’t control, he’s driven to self-abuse and violent behavior that would have been more interesting if not for his non-reaction to these two crucial scenes. If The Alchemist Cookbook would have embraced its wilder side instead of reverting back to the unremarkable humdrum that dominates the running time, a film of more substance could have emerged.
In other words, don’t be afraid to make a horror film. There are odd choices here that work against this being horror, but strangely, the last shot is a freeze frame that’s pure horror schlock that reminded me of “The Raft” in Creepshow 2.
The Alchemist Cookbook is worth watching, but watch it alone. As a filmmaker, it seems like Joel Potrykus prefers to subvert expectations rather than just giving the audience what they want, and he may be mistaking that for an artist’s impulse instead of really thinking like a filmmaker and trying to entertain. Potrykus has a film in him that could rival Gus Van Sant’s silent, haunted Last Days, but the hypnotic poetry of that film is only seen in glimpses of Potrykus’ work thus far. Whether he can pinpoint exactly why his films like The Alchemist Cookbook are compelling at times and outright boring in other places will determine if his style will lend itself to a truly signature film down the road.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
