EVERY HEAVY THING
Starring: Josh Fadem, James Urbaniak, Tipper Newton, Vera Drew, John Ennis, Kaylene Snarsky, and Barbara Crampton
Director: Mickey Reece
This film has been reviewed by Nick and Bode as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival.
BODE
I’ll admit that before jumping into director Mickey Reese’s latest film Every Heavy Thing, while I knew of his reputation in the indie circuit, I hadn’t seen any of his previous work. I can honestly say that this made me curious. Reece takes the cat-and-mouse serial killer thriller and turns it on its head, using surrealist imagery and dry humour to explore themes of gendered violence, big tech, shame, and repression. It can get a bit lost (especially in the third act), but its strangeness is so compelling that I can’t help but respect it. Also, support your local alt-weekly!
NICK
Because Fantasia is a genre festival, there's always some surreal entries with unique and ambitious editing techniques. In the case of director Mickey Reese's Every Heavy Thing, he uses VHS videotape sheen and glitch art to tell the story of a man, Joe (Josh Fadem), confronted by a local serial killer. Although it doesn't get off to a strong start, as Joe becomes increasingly tormented, I became more engaged. It falls off again in its closing, as it stumbles towards an end. That said, the darkness in the visuals and comedy works, I just wish the film was bookended better.
QUENTIN
Every Heavy Thing is terrible. From the low-budget aesthetics to the abysmal performances, it’s an 89-minute endurance test. Even if one wanted to forgive its indie trappings, which is valid, director Mickey Reece’s insistence on adding weird, Max Headroom-ish fever-dream interludes make for an epileptic fit waiting to happen. Admittedly, there is some Lynchian surrealness, which isn’t my thing, but I can usually recognize the merits of such films even though they aren’t for me. I have nothing positive to say here. Late in the movie, one character says, “…the shit that passes for art in this town.” Preach.