‘Fang’ Review: New Psychological Thriller Delivers Stunning Performances
David Gelmini
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Director Richard Burgin delivers an impressive psychological drama with Fang, his feature-length debut. The film examines the strained relationship between a troubled young man and his ailing mother. By the time the end credits roll, most viewers will probably be left questioning their sanity. Rest assured, this is a story that will really make you wonder if a human can turn into a rat.
Dylan LaRay delivers a stunning performance as Billy, a lonely and troubled young man on the Autism spectrum. Billy lives with his mother in their large Chicago house, although he does not seem to have anything resembling an actual social life. Despite clearly being intelligent and talented, his life is going nowhere, and he suffers from depression as a result.
On the other hand, the gifted Billy also shows incredible potential as both an artist and a storyteller. He even creates an incredibly detailed illustrated story about a human colony that settles on a distant planet called Graix, where they eventually evolved into an alien-hybrid species known as Graixians. On top of this, he also produces a ninety-page manual on Graixian history and culture. LaRay gave his portrayal of Billy everything he had, creating a frighteningly believable illustration of a socially awkward and deeply isolated individual who clearly feels ignored by society while also showing signs of incredible intellect and potential.
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At the same time, the talented LaRay also brilliantly captured the mannerisms and speech patterns of people who are on the spectrum, and his idiosyncrasies seem almost frighteningly realistic at times. Even the way in which Billy awkwardly makes a joke about being similar to a pigeon when asked if he considers himself to be like a bird seemed engrossingly awkward, as this is clearly not a character who is accustomed to making jokes.
Fang primarily serves as an examination into Billy’s mind, and it soon becomes clear that he desperately needs help for his issues. Billy has no friends aside from Dr. Decanthian (Hilary Bass), who occasionally comes to check on his mother. He also clearly suffers from hallucinations and paranoid schizophrenia. At times, he becomes prone to emotional outbursts, while he also takes dangerously large doses of his mother’s medication in the hopes that it will help with his problems.
Then, he gets bitten by a rat, which leads him to suffer from hallucinations where he encounters anthropomorphic rat-like beings who he thinks are trying to control him. A central theme of the film seems to be that people should always receive help when they need it, instead of allowing their problems to worsen, with Billy serving as an insight into how untreated mental health issues can spiral out of hand.
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Although he starts to believe that he’s transforming into a rat after being bitten and even has visions of fur growing underneath his wound, the supernatural elements of Fang seem to be entirely confined to Billy’s disturbed imagination. Unfortunately, these visions also convince Billy to become increasingly unhinged as he loses touch with reality, leading him to start taking drastic measures as his mental health rapidly deteriorates.
Billy works as a janitor in a desolate factory, where he earns a pitiful nine dollars per hour. He clearly despises his dead-end job, and even has difficulties cashing his paychecks at the end of the month. While his boss, Blake Wolfson (Tom White), views himself as a powerful businessman and his factory as a grand empire, having no doubt succumbed to his own delusions of grandeur. Wolfson chastises Billy for taking days and for his slow productivity, while also forcing his unfortunate employee to suffer through lectures about how people can only reach the top through hard work and sacrifice.
However, despite his endless posturing about honest hard work, it soon becomes clear that Wolfson is involved with illicit business activities which he is terrified will come to light. And when Billy eventually learns about his employer’s shady business affairs, things really hit the fan for both of them. While they were both morally questionable individuals, the fates which befall Billy and Wolfson seemed more unpleasant than either of them deserved. Nobody is guaranteed a happy ending in this story, which makes Fang all the more memorable. At the same time, the horrifying elements of the story will ensure that Fang will prey upon the minds of its viewers for years to come.
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Lynn Lowry has appeared in a vast number of acclaimed horror movies over the years, with some of her most notable genre pictures including I Drink Your Blood, The Crazies, Shivers, and Cat People. In Fang, she stars as Billy’s ailing mother, Gina Cochran, who suffers from stage five Parkinson’s disease. Lowry has a significant amount of screen time throughout Fang, and she delivers one of the best performances of her career as a woman who is clearly losing control of her physical and cognitive functions while also maintaining enough awareness to torment those around her. The exact reasons why Cochrane wallows in causing such misery are never specified, but it soon becomes evident that she has a talent for psychological torment.
To prepare for the role, Lowry undoubtedly carried out extensive research into how people with Parkinson’s disease move and talk, while also no doubt using her years of playing villains to bring Gina’s more malicious side to life. At times, Gina’s illness was depicted so convincingly that Lowry’s performance became almost difficult to watch. While the character’s spiteful behavior will also leave us speechless at times, this is a role nobody will forget in a hurry. It goes without saying that you really will not know if you should loathe or pity Gina by the end of the film.
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It goes without saying that Burgin wanted Fang to be an uncomfortable film for audiences, and he very clearly succeeded on this front. From the deteriorating health of the two protagonists to the shots of maggots crawling over a dead rat, this certainly is not an uplifting film to sit through. Although the actual horror elements of Fang seemed to occur in Billy’s mind rather than in reality, the scenes of his apparent hallucinations were still horrendous enough to make viewers squirm. This is a film about a young man who clearly cannot differentiate his paranoid delusions from reality, so it was only fitting for his nightmarish visions to come to life as the story progressed.
The performances of LaRay and Lowry will also no doubt make you uncomfortable at times. But you also won’t be able to look away whenever they’re onscreen. Fang contains some of the best performances you are likely to see all year, and the abundance of nightmarish imagery will also keep you suitably uncomfortable at all the right moments. While it was certainly not an emotionally edifying or optimistic story, Fang still offers viewers an unflinching examination into the lives of two despondent individuals who are both gradually succumbing to their afflictions, making it arguably one of the most memorable horror films of the year.
Summary
With its dedicated central performances and its abundance of nightmarish imagery, Fang is quite possibly one of the best independent horror films to come along in quite some time. Needless to say, you will certainly not want to miss Fang when it receives a general release.
