‘Craziest SA film made’, Fried Barry, grows a global cult following

Director Ryan Kruger’s acclaimed indie horror film Fried Barry was shot in Cape Town. 80% critics’ rating on Rotten

Tomatoes, its 10th best sci-fi movie of 2021. Winner of 17 awards, including five Best Film awards and three Best Actor awards. Five-star review from ComicBook.com. “Destined to become a cult classic” – CBR.com. “Brilliance, imagination and a real sense of risk-taking” – Empire. “Fried Barry is without a doubt the craziest South African film ever made. It redefines what audiences can expect from SA cinema.” – Kruger. Strap in, earthlings. The most critically acclaimed South African sci-fi film since District 9 – Ryan Kruger’s Fried Barry – has started streaming on Showmax, having already taken the world by storm. Barry (stuntman Gary Green) is a drug-addled degenerate who, after yet another bender, is abducted by aliens. Soon Barry is riding shotgun in his own body as an alien visitor assumes control and takes it for a joyride through Cape Town. What follows is an onslaught of drugs, sex and violence, as our alien tourist enters the weird and wonderful world of humankind. Critics the world over are positively foaming at the mouth over Fried Barry. In their five-star review, ComicBook.com hailed Fried Barry as “the most demented movie of the year … one of the most memorable, visually arresting and unique movies I’ve seen in ages”, adding Green gives “the best alienin-a-human-body performance since Vincent d’Onofrio in Men in Black”.

The Guardian calls it, “sharply comic, surprisingly touching and straight-up well-acted”. And The New York Times singled out its “relentless gonzo vibe”.

The audacious film is the debut feature from the SA Music Awards, MTV and Ghoema award-winning Cape director.

Kruger has directed more than 100 music videos for the likes of Goodluck, Jack Parow and Prime Circle, as well as commercials and internationally acclaimed short films, including the multi award-winning 2017 short film that Fried Barry is expanded from.

Forgoing a traditional script, Kruger hammered out what would become the scene breakdown for Fried Barry over the course of three days. He then workshopped the individual scenes with the cast, many of whom he’d worked with before.

“The scene breakdown takes us through the movie, from point A to point B, but we workshopped each scene to figure out how we get there,” he explains.

This approach imbued the film with an improvisational energy and resulted in some of the biggest laughs and most affecting moments in the movie.

The guest cast list reads like a who’s-who of acting talent, including South African Film and Television Award-winners Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Godzilla vs Kong, Black Sails, Pirates of the Caribbean 2) and Deon Lotz (Trackers, Skoonheid) as well as Grant Swanby (Beyond the River), Sean Cameron Michael (Blood Drive, Black Sails, MacGyver) and Jonathan Pienaar (The Watch).

The film’s international release on Shudder last year saw it go viral on its first day, and the audience response has been nothing short of explosive, with hundreds of examples of fan art based on its iconic main character and several die-hard fans even getting Fried Barry tattoos.

Fried Barry has now been sold in 73 territories internationally and won 17 awards, including five Best Film awards and three Best Actor awards for Green. It won Best Cinematography at both Grimmfest and RapidLion, where it also took the Best of South Africa prize, and won for Best Visual Effects at the 2021 Africa Movie Academy Awards.

So is Kruger happy with the monster he’s created?

“Fried Barry ... redefines what audiences can expect from SA cinema.”

Plus, he quips, “I guarantee you won’t see anything like it again.” – Citizen reporter