-Written by Kyle Bain.
Three young kids prepare to summon Sweaty Larry, a dark force that appears in the bathroom after a short, toilet-flushing ritual. The trio discusses what might happen if they summon this stranger, or if anything will happen at all. They will soon find out exactly what happens.
Short and comedic is the tone of Sweaty Larry. Written and directed by Vanessa Ionta Wright, Sweaty Larry looks to blend that aforementioned comedy with darkness, horror. That’s a perfectly acceptable idea, but I’m not sure that Wright pulls it off in this short film. Blending those two things together can either work beautifully, juxtapositioning one another, or they can butt heads, creating something campy, or altogether ineffective. Unfortunately, I believe that Sweaty Larry falls under the latter. I never found the comedy funny, but it’s so aggressive that it steals from the darker aspects of the film as well.
The twist at the end is welcome, and had that been the one bit of comedy, I truly believe that Sweaty Larry could have worked. What Wright attempts to do, however, is fill her film with comedy. At every turn there is an attempt at comedy, comedy that often fails–and that’s often a result of where the comedy comes from.
Sweaty Larry’s protagonist is Amy (Sienna Cheryl Burton), and when she ultimately plays a role in the development of comedy, it tends to work. Though, there are numerous other characters present in this film. The one in question, the one that I felt served no purpose in this film, is Hannah (Quinn Reames), Amy’s older sister. She shows up multiple times during the film as a way to add exposition, but it’s not needed. Amy and her friends are more than enough to drive the story forward, more than enough–leaving Hannah with unimportant and inconsequential lines and screentime.
Additionally, Wright includes something of an LGBTQ agenda. Had this meant something to the story, it would have been welcome. However, it does nothing to move the plot, nothing to add to the overall story–and it’s only there because Wright wanted it there. Sweaty Larry is only about seven-minutes long, but it didn’t need to be even that long. Realistically the film could have clocked in at two or three minutes in length, and nothing about the story would have changed. Sweaty Larry could have been just as effective, could have employed the same amount of comedy, drama, and horror.
Sweaty Larry ultimately falls victim to Wright adding too much to the script. Too many characters, too much comedy, unnecessary agendas, etc. The film never finds its footing, never understands what it wants to be. I found myself scratching my head, trying to understand what exactly Wright was going for, but I still can’t understand. Sweaty Larry needs to be cut down to the bare minimum in order for the primary story of the titular character to find success. There’s just too much here, and it ultimately never makes sense.
Written & Directed by Vanessa Ionta Wright.
Starring Sienna Cheryl Burton, Camryn Bentley, Quinn Reames, Haley Leary, Melissa Kunnap, & Victor Rivera.
3/10 = WORTH THE RISK, BUT YOU’VE BEEN WARNED
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