Fantasia International Film Festival 2025 – Indie filmmaking troubadour Mickey Reece returns with his latest feature, Every Heavy Thing. Like some of Reece’s other work, the film combines dark comedy with horror. It’s also a clever take on the familiar narrative of an ordinary character getting sucked into extraordinary circumstances that shakes up their day to day.
Josh Fadem stars as Joe, an office worker for a magazine that primarily features fluff and entertainment stories. One of Joe’s co-workers convinces him to spend a late night out attending a concert by Whitney Bluewill, played by horror queen Barbara Crampton. Though skeptical at first, Fadem is indeed wowed by Bluewill’s voice. As the night winds down and Fadem prepares to drive home, he witnesses someone murder Bluewill in gruesome fashion, with a bullet to the head. As soon as he enters his car to drive to safety and seek help, he’s threatened by the menacing William Shaffer (James Urbaniak), who tells Joe not to tell anyone what he saw.
After the shooting, the film continually bends reality. Joe becomes more and more paranoid, struggling to keep the murder and the culprit a secret. He has nightmares every night, often featuring William Shaffer. This also creates immense strain between Joe and his girlfriend, Lux (Tipper Newton). She’s convinced Joe has been so quiet because he knows that she kissed another man in a stairwell. However, that’s the least of Joe’s problems. He can barely maintain his sanity. While all of the cast here is good, Fadem especially stands out, playing a character who becomes increasingly paranoid, teetering on the edge of mental collapse. Newton is another standout and provides a lot of comedic relief. Vera Drew is also notable in a limited role as Joe’s friend Alex.
Another highlight is the film’s pulsating electronic score, created by Reece’s longtime collaborator Nicholas Poss. The layered and textured sound design adds to the film’s haunting effect. Meanwhile, the feature frequently has a lo-fi quality, especially since Reece employs some analog aesthetics that often give the film a gritty feel, which enhances the underbelly that the writer/director depicts. Reece also makes really interesting use of split screens, montages, and landscapes, crafting some memorable imagery in the process.
There is a plot thread regarding tech companies moving into the film’s main setting, High Tower. Though this point is mentioned a few times throughout the runtime, not much is done with it. It feels like a missed opportunity. It’s unclear how this change really effects the community, even though there are snip bits of news reports and radio talk show callers that mention the change. Reece just never does much with this thread beyond that.
With Every Heavy Thing, Reece continues to push the boundaries of indie filmmaking. His latest feature successfully combines horror with dark comedy. Reece employs low-fi aesthetics and a textured soundscape to great effect here. He also takes the familiar narrative of an ordinary person caught in an extraordinary situation and puts his personal touch on it. Reece continues to be a writer and director who warrants attention.
