Architect Frank Lamm (Thomas Niehaus) is about to have the worst day of his life after he awakens to find himself injured and trapped within the confines of a portaloo. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the portaloo is located on Frank’s construction site, one that is set to be blown up within the hour. With no easy way out, and no means of communication, Frank finds himself in the fight of his life. This strange set-up forms the basis for Lukas Rinker’s debut feature, Holy S**t!, a high-concept single-location film of the highest order.
Opening on a striptease it takes Holy S**t! a few moments to introduce the audience to Frank. The pink hued tones, soft rock soundtrack, and dancing naked lady, establish a very different type of film before revealing itself to be nothing more than an injury induced fantasy. Frank is snapped out of his dream and thrust into the pain and horror of his situation. He’s trapped in the portaloo in multiple ways; the structure isn’t in its default position, the door appears to be blocked, and Frank’s arm has been skewered by some pipes. His circumstances are pretty dire and Rinker doesn’t shy away from the gruesome and disgusting aspects.
Given it’s portaloo setting, Holy S**t! is overflowing with fluids. Whether it is Frank’s blood, the soap in the dispenser or the grim contents of the toilet itself, this film is sticky. It’ll take a strong stomach to survive some sequences, especially the extended ones involving the toilet. The whole film is a germophobe’s worst nightmare, Rinker pushing their anxiety levels sky high. Those with more robust constitutions won’t have as much to test them, as Rinker takes aim at the one demographic, catering a bespoke ordeal for them whilst foregoing the rest.
Single location films have become a norm for genre cinema and Holy S**r! is just the latest in a long line of them. With so much competition, originality of location is becoming harder to achieve, though Rinker’s is an exception to the rule. Plenty of films set themselves in bathrooms; Saw, We Need to do Something, and most recently Glorious, have all done this, but a portaloo hasn’t been covered before. With such a unique location, Rinker has his work cut out to maintain enough material to sustain the audience. Whilst his mission starts strong, the idea loses steam around the middle. Initially Holy S**t!’s is spent with Frank trapped in an almost real-time countdown. There’s some great tension worked into this, but as coincidences conspire to continue Frank’s escape time, it wears off. Once out of the 24 sensations of time-constrained reality, the pacing stalls. Simultaneously, all the various plot threads (of which there are many) begin to tumble on top of one another. A great concept for a short, when strung out to 100 minutes, Holy S**t! begins to die on its feet. Too many ideas and plot strands are thrown into the mix and it jumbles up the piece too much. A more restrained handle on the story is necessary and Holy S**t! quickly becomes a case of too many ideas spoiling the simplicity of the premise.
A film happy to lean into the comedy of the situation, Holy S**t! has plenty of farcical moments of humour that help smooth over some of the cracks to keep things entertaining. The absurdist nature of the comedy keeps the tone light and silly. It’s the right direction to go in, skirting a 127 Hours in a toilet to become something a little more fun. As jovial as Holy S**t! is, it does have some moral messages it wants to share. Frank is a workaholic. His blinkered view on the world has left his girlfriend feeling isolated and unwanted, and his perfectionist approach to work has put him in a dangerous position with colleagues. Through the film, the simple idea that you should make the ones you love feel appreciated, and that too much work can be hazardous to your health, are made abundantly clear. There’s nothing subtle about them, but then nothing in this film is, and it’s a great message to be pedalling.
As a debut feature, Holy S**t! is a mixed bag of positives and negatives. Rinker’s film starts simple and strong, but concerns itself with complexity and in doing so loses the viewer. When you have a dire situation and gross location, there’s not a lot of other work that is needed. That aside, Holy S**t! is an amusing comedy of errors tale that will be a waking nightmare for those with a dislike of germs.
Holy S**t!
Summary
Holy S**t! may run out of steam quickly, however, its affinity for gross-out humour should be enough to keep most invested.
Holy S**t! was reviewed at Arrow Video FrightFest 2022.
