Review – ‘Butt Boy’

Who is Butt Boy? Where is Butt Boy? Why is Butt Boy? Let’s settle it once and for all: Butt Boy just is! That’s right. Writer, director and star of this one-of-a-kind experience, Tyler Cornack (this is also his directorial debut), has created something so foolish and ridiculous, it turns into something exceptionally entertaining unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

After a routine prostate exam, Chip Gutchel (Cornack), a bored IT Engineer, awakens a harmless rectal kink that soon grows into a dangerous addiction as he becomes responsible for a missing child. Chip eventually buries his desires in Alcoholics Anonymous and tries to move on with his life. Years later, he becomes the sponsor of Russell Fox (Tyler Rice – The Pocketeers), a newly sober detective. After Chip relapses, Russell is brought in to investigate another missing child at Chip’s office. Russell begins to suspect that Chip’s addiction may not be to alcohol, but something much more sinister. It’s up to Russell now to prove that Chip uses his butt to make people disappear. But who’s going to believe his wild theory?

What clearly started as some sort of gag, since the creators and most of the cast are the brains behind popular Instagram sketch group Tiny Cinema, has turned into something so comical and dark, you would never believe it unless you see it. The crazy premise could easily be a comedy – and you’ll most certainly laugh your ass off with how batshit it all is – but it is more of a film-noir-satire with splashes of B-film horror comedy.

You’d easily expect some serious overacting with a premise about a problematic derrière, but Tyler Rice’s caricature of a dead serious detective is spot on without ever going total-loss and losing your attention. His complete opposite is the absolutely ridiculous Chip. Cornack could’ve easily taken it a step further to make us really feel his struggle with his kink-addiction-gone-rogue. He plays it a bit too simple and one-note which makes every scene with his on screen wife (played by Instagram and Youtube-figure Shelby Dash) a bit too dull to really care about. Dash on the other hand, has a natural screen presence, although she doesn’t get much to do besides being a crappy wife who resents her boring husband.

Technically, Butt Boy is a sight to behold. There’s great use of colour (reds and blues are very present to show a difference in mood), some truly arresting cinematography – such as a fight sequence next to a train track that feels gritty and unexpected, and an ’80s inspired score by Feathers that will make you want to listen to it as soon as the film is over.

Those who dare to give this a shot, will be pleasantly surprised by how tongue-in-cheek it really is. You don’t expect to be invested in a tragically vulgar story with the title ‘Butt Boy‘, but stranger things have happened. The guts to make a film this absurd really makes you excited for what’s next for the talented cast and crew involved in the making of this larger than life soon to be cult phenomenon. You’re expected to laugh, but in the end you’ll be the butt of the joke for thinking this was just some silly comedy.

‘Butt Boy‘ will be available for on demand viewing from May 6 via Google Play, Fetch TV, iTunes and Umbrella Entertainment.

DVD also releasing May 6.

Review – ‘Butt Boy’

Reviewed online (screener provided by Umbrella Entertainment), May 3, 2020. Rating: MA15+. Running time: 98 min.

PRODUCTION: An Umbrella Entertainment release of a Tiny Cinema production. Producer: Ryan Koch.

CREW: Director: Tyler Cornack. Screenplay: Tyler Cornack, Ryan Koch. Camera: William Morean. Editor: Austin Lewis. Music: Feathers.

WITH: Tyler Rice, Tyler Cornack, Shelby Dash, Brad Potts, Austin Lewis, Tyler Dryden, Robert Ackerman Moss, Kai Henderson, Wilky Lau, Colleen Elizabeth Miller.