A Fantastic Fear of Everything

Easily the best, quirky, weird movie I've ever seen, A Fantastic Fear of Everything is so entertaining

and discombobulated you have to watch it twice just to get the whole picture and maybe a third time for giggles. I found a Fantastic Fear on Netflix so as of now, you can watch it as many times as you want. A neurotic writer, Simon Pegg, through writing his television script about serial killers, becomes paranoid that he is actually being stalked by a serial killer. With a mixture of mediums tied in through storytelling, A Fantastic Fear of Everything is the most unique movie I can think of; it reminds me of a Wes Anderson film but not not as coherent. It didn't get great reviews on any of the official review cites, but you have to have an open mind.

For a large part of this movie, Simon Pegg is the only actor in it. There are a few parts when other people come into the story and then leave, but up until the last third of the movie the story revolves around solely Simon Pegg. This movie actually made me a fan of Simon Pegg and led me to watch his other work (Hector and the Search for Happiness is also on Netflix and also awesome). I thought it was interesting, but I wasn't surprised, to find that the directors on this film are actually music oriented people; one of them is a musician and the other has only made music videos. A Fantastic Fear of Anything is the only directing credit they both have. It's interesting knowing this now after watching it a few times and thinking about the ways music is utilized throughout the movie. The uncommon nature of A Fantastic Fear really makes it stand out among other quirky movies; it's purposely weird, and it doesn't take itself too seriously, with the unique edits, media cross-over's, and general design in the film.

Half of the movie is shot in the character Jack's (Simon Pegg) flat, and he is the sole actor for that portion of the movie. What advances the plot beyond the fact that Simon Pegg is paranoid about serial killers, is that he's got a meeting with a man from Hollywood about his script, so he has to get ready for the meeting, while also thinking there is someone in his flat that is trying to kill him. A lot of the comedy in his home comes from his physical reactions to things. Scenes go so quickly from calm to manic in this movie it catches you off guard and reads hilariously.
The other half of the movie is this weird ironic series of events that happen to put Jack in the worst possible positions he could possible be in. One of my favorite parts of the movie is the reveal three quarters of the way through the movie that he has burned a whole half of head's hair off while attempting to dry his clothes in his over to avoid going to the laundromat. The reveal is made so much more impactful because the scene with the oven happens fairly early into the movie and the reveal is a lot later, so the camera shots of Simon Pegg after the scene with the oven are all from the side that doesn't get burned, or they're at an angle where you can't tell half his hair bunt off. It's so surprising and isn't really that relevant to the plot but it is damn funny. The most ironic thing that happens is that in the end, Jack is actually captured, along with a woman, by a serial killer in the basement of the laundromat that he so dreaded going to. The layers of irony in this move are almost incomprehensible.

I love this movie; I find a substantial amount of charm in the weird ways  it's put together, and I find the plot original and refreshing. There is nothing like this movie and at no point in the movie will you think "oh yes, that cliche comedy/horror trope" which is my favorite thing about A Fantastic Fear of Everything; completely unique from everything else, making it quite a fun experience to have seen this rare of a movie.