Out of Screamfest, David Harari’s Processing Charlie takes cues from Psycho when it comes to the male loneliness epidemic. The writer/director spins a twisted tale that navigates companionship, connection, and a consuming hunger to be wanted. It’s a remarkable indie feature that’s stunningly grounded, raw, and bizarre. Harari doesn’t sidestep a much-needed confrontation with violent solitude and how we are all culpable in some fashion. With strong visual flourishes, Processing Charlie feels both like a big budget tentpole release and a scruffy diamond-in-the-rough.
When we first meet Charlie (Michael Ursu), he’s having sex with his wife Anika (Kelly Pantaleoni) before the physical pleasure triggers something in his brain, and he abruptly stops. Their intimate moment melts into an argument about Anika’s desire to have kids. Charlie doesn’t want kids, a sticking point for both of them for very different reasons. Charlie compartmentalized a tragic event from his childhood, and it informs much of his decision-making in adulthood. But Anika has had enough. When Charlie’s long-lost, socially-inept cousin Cole (Asa Fris) shows up on his doorstep, Anika says “enough is enough,” packs a bag, and walks straight out the door. The emotional conflict serves as the impetus behind the story, layered on with a very big family problem.
Charlie welcomes Cole into his home, but he soon wishes he hadn’t. Cole is not only awkward and struggles with having even the most mundane conversations, but he also masks a psychotic personality. He’s buried his own skeletons, and after meeting Anika’s best friend Carmen (Sophia Guillen), his true nature breaks open to reveal a completely broken and deranged heart throbbing underneath his rotten flesh. A house party, a private conversation, and an insidious evil propel the story until it goes off the rails with shocking revelations and delicious scheming.
Processing Charlie includes the talents of cinematographers Nandan Lawande and Sebastian Sokolowski, whose brilliance enhances Harari’s script. And Harari’s direction is sharp, emotive, and intense. Presented in black-and-white, the creative choice gives the film an earnest charm. As the story unravels, you begin to understand the why behind it. Once one domino falls, the film quickly becomes an avalanche of deception, perverse addictions, and assault. You just don’t mess with Cousin Cole, and Anika and Charlie learn a difficult, tragic lesson about chosen family.
David Harari’s Processing Charlie is a bleak and relentless rabbit hole that ends with one of the most devastatingly sad scenes in horror. Throw what you think you know about Cole and your expectations about the finale right out window. Expectation murders artistic expression. When you allow the film to happen to you, Processing Charlie rips the skin from your bone and hangs it up like wall dressing. It’s that unhinged.
