WiNdOw LiCkEr Review

Director: Brian McGuire
Starring: Brian McGuire, Nina Millen, James Duval, Brett Roberts, Joey Capone
Running time: 101 minutes
Rating: N/A


Weird and wonderful are two words that spring to mind when watching Brian McGuire’s Window Licker. I’m a big fan of films that are different from the norm in some way or another, but this one is mostly filmed on an Android Smartphone – and Window Licker only gets stranger as you watch on. It follows main character Ben Wild (McGuire) and his world of addiction to prescription drugs, reality television, video games and cam girls is oddly intriguing. Ben’s dark journey to get to the root of his problems (at least in the way I understood it) is truly wrought with insanity, isolation and suffering and everything in this film lends towards it, even the film’s narrative.

We are given snippets into Ben’s life, the people surrounding it and the things that occupy his time with no outright order but this makes perfect sense because of the character we are dealing with. The narrative structure follows Ben’s downward spiral with instances of using echo effects in speech to place distance between the speaker and Ben. At one point Ben is even talking to himself and imagines himself in the scenario of one of his favourite reality T.V shows; The Joe Popularity contest. Which, by the way, is a great watch on its own. I love it when something offers me extra. The use of these things make Window Licker a surreal experience, in some places it could be quite trippy but it in no way harmed the time I as an audience member spent with Ben Wild. It felt as though I was coming to better understand Ben’s suffering and all the strangeness around it. I genuinely felt as though he was tormented.

This is for anyone who really likes to watch something. This is not a snore-fest film. Despite its wackiness, it is a film that requires you to to pay attention. It blurs the lines between Ben’s reality and his fantasies/hallucinations and this kind of mystery brings up the question; what is real? As far as Ben is concerned, it seems as though all of it is and you can really feel trapped in there with him. If I haven’t already made it clear; I enjoyed watching this, through its dark, comedic elements and where the story takes a heavier turn as we travel and struggle with this isolated addict.

****

WiNdOw LiCkEr is currently showing as part of Raindance Festival. For more information on screenings, visit the Raindance website.