Director Sam Fox’s short horror comedy is a great commentary about growing up with a family that’s insane or just weird. For many of us growing up around parents and or family that are just mental in their own ways can be terrifying. It can especially be terrifying if you’re looking for friends or a potential romantic partner. Director and writer Sam Fox’s “Fck’n Nuts” is a great horror twist and excellent metaphor on having a nutty family. Fox’s short is obviously something of a sense of therapy in where much of “Fck’n Nuts” confronts the terror of trying to assimilate someone new in to such a crazy family.
Teenager Sandy is grievously forced to break it off with Dan, the boy of her dreams in order to avert him from meeting her unusual parents. When he appears at her door one evening intent on meeting her parents, she refuses and insists that they are nuts. But he convinces her and gets so much more than he bargained for.
The fact that Sam Fox decides to go literal with her short film, allowing for a good laugh along with the inherently personal commentary is icing on the cake. I have to say while I kind of liked the entirety of the film, I was surprised that the second half of the short worked so well. I didn’t see it coming and when it did land, I found it quite hilarious. It’s a joke that works on so many levels, especially as a metaphor on how we view our own family, and what it can be like knowing all too well what other people are getting in to.
It also hurts knowing that they can turn and leave us because of our nutty family. Maddie Nichols and Vincent Stalba are very good here, but Sam Fox’s direction is the real highlight. She manages to do a bang up job creating his nightmarish surreal comedy that is vibrant with stark colors and great camera work. All in all, “Fck’n Nuts” is absolutely worth checking out if you pass it at a film festival.
Debuting at L’Etrange on September 5th – 17th, Motel/X September 12th – 18th, Sydney Underground September 14th, Future of Film is Female September 20th, and more.