Wyrm is the understated, bizarre, ‘quirky’ feature-length debut from director Christopher Winterbauer. It’s about an alternate society where teenagers have a collar around their neck which only pops off if they kiss somebody (a real, romantic kiss). And socially awkward Wyrm is the last kid in high school to get his ‘collar popped’.
That’s about it. You can probably guess where the movie is going, and you’d be wrong – which is both surprising and disappointing, because after the midpoint ‘twist’, nothing really happens… It just kind of coasts on nothing. The best element is the premise and the first ten minutes of set-up. Everything after that is severely underwhelming.
Here’s a way to think about it. There’s a running joke in the movie about a kid who’s from Sweden. Every time somebody mentions him, the ‘joke’ is that somebody says, ‘actually, he’s from NORWAY’… It’s not funny the first time, and it does not get funnier any of the other times… That’s what watching the movie feels like.
Also, talk about false advertising. This is described on IMDb as being like Todd Solondz, but gentler. Bullshit. One, Todd Solondz is iconically NOT gentle, so that doesn’t make sense. And two, this is NOWHERE near as shocking as a Solondz movie. It’s such an awful comparison that unironically got my hopes up, and then completely fucked them.
So yeah. The premise is good, but the movie is so dull it’s infuriating. Just watch an actual Todd Solondz movie instead, like Happiness or Storytelling.
Rating: 3.2/10
