One documentary that had a LOT of talk at South By Southwest this week, and for good reason, is the AMC+/Sundance doc DICKWEED, which its title alone attracted quite a bit of attention. The movie had three screenings at SxSW and the filmmakers were in attendance, and sadly I didn’t get to meet them (but hopefully down the road for a festival high-five!).
About: Two people got kidnapped. One man lost his dick. No-one got any money. This heist-gone-horribly-wrong led one Newport Beach detective on an international manhunt for the most twisted criminal he’d ever hunted. In 2012, Michael, a local weed dispensary owner, got home from work and plopped down on the sofa like any other weeknight. Three hours later he was zip-tied and eating dirt as three men tried to beat him into admitting where he’d buried the million dollars. And he would have gladly told them rather than endure what happened next. The only problem was, he hadn’t buried a million dollars, and after they tortured him and left him to die, he still had no idea who these men were.
Jason’s Reaction: Though I would change the title, this is one of the very best docs that I saw at SxSW this year. This deep and involving doc is like reading a really good true crime novel as it gets into the guts of a truly bizarre case, and I loved how the layers were slowly revealed bringing even more surprises as it went along. The most interesting subject is the detective, who lovingly shows us the entire process of investigating, interviewing and also, my favourite, using his own thought process to figure things out making this feel like such a dramatic narrative than a documentary. I always love movies where we see characters having to figure things out and it’s no exception with the detective. DICKWEED also has such a strong cinematic look and feel to the proceedings, making it work really well for the big screen. This is an AMC+/Sundance release so I am hoping the movie gets a few theatrical event screenings as it works really well with an audience, but it should also be available later in the year for audiences to enjoy at home.
For more information, point your browser to www.sxsw.com!