Swiss Army Man

From the directing duo behind the unforgettable music video for Turn Down for What comes Swiss Army Man, the most philosophically profound movie featuring a flatulent corpse yet made.

Daniel Radcliffe plays the eponymous, multi-purpose individual, a dead body that essentially pushes another man back to life when it washes up on a deserted island where the hopeless Hank (Paul Dano) is about to hang himself. Hank’s new castaway companion seems to be deceased, but the body’s various magical powers – a projectile-firing mouth, a compass erection and propellant farts – offer potential salvation. Yes, really.

Christened Manny by Hank, the corpse, whose skill set is as elastic as the film’s tone, soon begins to speak (yes, really), and his naiveté about the human condition becomes the therapeutic means by which Hank starts to probe the insecurities and superficialities of interpersonal relationships. It’s with these stabs at earnest, anguished sentiment, rather than the fairly flat body comedy, that this macabre, demented curiosity hits its better notes – though a case of too many endings somewhat spoils the attempted emotional catharsis.