Shudder Saturday: ManFish (2022)

I tried, I really did, but I guess I should start this review by stating that I immediately thought of referring to this movie as The Shameless Of Water. There. Done. Now that's out of the way, and it's not the worst short-hand descrioption of this low-budget comedy oddity, I can focus on more properly critiquing the film without that phrase being at the forefront of my mind.

This is the tale of Terry (Dean Kilbey), a man who has spent a lot of his life being pushed around and berated as a loser. His partner, Tracy (Emma Stannard), has very little actual love for him, and spends more of her time getting frisky with Terry's criminal brother, Nigel (Liam Noble). Terry doesn't want to get involved in that lifestyle, and he would much rather sell his hand-made, seashell-adorned, trinkets, but he may be forced into making some major changes when an aquatic creature, the titular ManFish (Matty Noble), comes into his life. Tracy immediately starts to think of how they can profit from the situation. Terry, on the other hand, starts to find a connection that he's never had for most of his life, if at all.

An enjoyably bonkers feature debut from writer-director Marc Coleman, ManFish is a great example of how to do the best you can with an incredibly low budget. The main premise may be too silly for a lot of people, and I'd love to see the faces of anyone picking this and expecting a standard creature feature, but those willing to approach it with an open mind should find the end result surprisingly satisfying, as well as surprisingly . . . maybe emotional isn't the right word, nor is heartwarming, but it's certainly somewhere in that area.

Part of the beauty of the film is the juxtaposition of the strange creature and the mundanity of what could be viewed as everyday British life. There are no obsessive scientists here, no hidden worlds being brought into view, and no big set-pieces. There are also no decent special effects or creature design, but this is a potential negative turned into a positive when comments are made about the various expressions of the ManFish, despite viewers seeing that there are NO various expressions available on his obviously fake face/head/mask.

Coleman does well with the writing and direction, using an enjoyably brief runtime to develop various characters in a way that helps to make the ridiculousness all seem more grounded and realistic. While anything with the ManFish at the heart of it is inherently silly, every other main interaction feels familiar to anyone who has encountered the kind of eccentric characters you can sometimes find in a British seaside town. 

It helps that the cast do surprisingly good work (and I only mean that it's surprising in relation to the title and tone of the film). Kilbey gives a performance so great that it had me scratching my head as the end credits rolled, trying to figure out how the hell he managed to do so well with material that could easily have left him hanging in the wind. Stannard is also very good, playing her sneering part with gusto, and Noble is very believable as the standard "big fish in a small pond" crook. David Alexander is fun, playing Nigel's friend/henchman, nicknamed Choc Ice, Monica Gaga and Eloise Dale are perfectly cast in smaller roles, and Jon Campling tries to steal a scene or two, playing an old, and maybe wise, pub patron who provides some extra backstory about recent history of the local area. Oh, almost forgot, Matty Noble does wonderful work hidden under the ManFish guise.

I don't want to unreservedly recommend this to people, it's just not the kind of film that will appeal to the majority of casual film viewers. I do want to recommend it though. It's a film with plenty of good humour, a fair amount of heart, and a lot of people working together to make the best of material that could have easily been turned into something MUCH worse. I sense more good things in the future from Coleman, and I hope at least one or two other people check this out after reading my review.

7/10

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