HE WENT THAT WAY

US, 2023, 95 minutes, Colour.

Zachary Quinton, Jacob Elordi, Patrick J.Adams.

Directed by Jeffrey Darling.

The film is about an actual serial killer in the US in the 1960s (in fact, the killer was also involved in murders with his brother but not in the film).

This is a strange film that has not appealed to a wide audience but there are some admirers. For the most part, this is a road film, the serial killer, here called Bobby, and played by Australian actor Jacob Elordi (Priscilla, Saltburn) hitching a ride with a very buttoned up entertainment entrepreneur, Jim, played by Zachary Quinton (Star Trek) who is transporting a monkey who performs, called Spanky, to meet his wife and explore further contracts.

The audience has seen Bobby initially in a car talking, only to discover that he is talking to the corpse of a man he has killed.

Which means that the film offers an exploration of each man’s character and the strange interactions, Bobby psychopathic with some of the charm of the sociopath, inventing stories about himself, tantalised by the presence of Spanky, the monkey, influencing Jim. Jim is very proper, well-dressed, good mannered, agreeable to Bobby, sometimes surprised, protective of Spanky, and some have suggested that he may be an example of the Stockholm Syndrome with Bobby’s influence.

There are various encounters along the way, a violent confrontation with Jim’s brother-in-law, Native Americans, an Amish couple, two young girls being reckless away from their families, a night at a motel. And, there is the encounter with Jim’s wife and some bad moments for him.

While the actors give their best and Spanky (animatronics as well as prosthetics for an actor), the audience may well feel uncomfortable throughout. Perhaps the intention. (And the sad note the Australian cinematographer, Jeff Darling, died in a surfing accident just after the completion of photography, his first film as director.)

During the final credits there is into material with the Jim character who had written a memoir of these events – much more lively in the credits sequences than during the film.

1. Based on a (mostly) true story? The end credits, the central character, Spanky and the dance?
2. US, the 1960s, 1964, the JFK era, change, the place of outsiders?
3. Road movie, the Southern States?
4. The title, the references – which he?
5. The introduction to Bobby, driving, talking, the dead man in the car, the consequences of that action, his motivations, the flashbacks? His character, appearance, thumbing the lift? The drama of the interactions with Jim? Stories of his past, the Army? Weapons? Stories true and false? Childhood background? Emotional?
6. The contrast with Jim, his age, experience, uptight, proper, the homoerotic suggestions? The contact with his wife, the visit, contract about Spanky? The tension in the relationship and her brother and the death?
7. Spanky, the performing monkey, synthetics, animatronics, the actor? Travelling, performing, touches of the human? The contracts? The reputation?
8. The visit to the brother-in-law, a debt, his attitude, conflict, the threats, Bobby and violence?
9. The encounters along the way, ordinary situations, different characters, Native American, the Amish, two girls, a risky night with them at the motel? Behaviour in danger?
10. Bobby, the fascination Spanky, resistance, human explaining how to deal with Spanky, the control?
11. Bobby, the story going to Chicago for his girlfriend, the culmination, the revelations, the psychological and violent confrontations? This story as a memoir?