SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2025 REVIEW! The main character of writer-director Cory Santilli’s In The Mouth is Merl (Colin Burgess), who has terrific hair. Thick and wavy and moldable as clay, his bonce is a thing of beauty. This is just as well, as he has a giant doppelganger protruding from his yard, atop of which every strand stands proud, huge, and majestic, like a glossy Hokusai threatening to break across his lawn. Why is a giant version of his head sticking out of his garden? Is there even one there, or is it a delusion?
Nervy Merl never leaves his house and even chastises a visitor for not removing their shoes. When Merl’s slip-ons are pointed out, he politely explains they are “indoor shoes.” How long he has been a shut-in is not clear, but it won’t be for much longer: Merl’s landlady appears regularly to remind him that he is being evicted for nonpayment. The film takes up most of its time with the schemes and adventures Merl gets into not to go outside ever, and therefore, not get a job. He tries to sell Beanie Babies, then takes in a roommate, Larry (Paul Rothery, who is quite obviously a highly sought, on-the-run “manslaughterer.” (There are a lot of nice, silly choices to do with language here.)
Santilli has really knocked it out of the park. In The Mouth is as funny as it is intriguing. The plot is a surreal adventure that mines the daytime horror of an anonymous American suburb with Lynchian aplomb. Shot entirely in inky black and white, the tale of Merl balances dark surrealism with light humor, with the two opposing strands twining elegantly into the mutant double helix of a pretty good and very weird story. The filmmaker deserves credit for working such a slim notion so very well into a proper feature.
“…the schemes and adventures Merl gets into not to go outside ever, and therefore, not get a job.”
Burgess gives a great performance. His character’s mental stumbling blocks causing discombobulation are a tremendous dramatic grist for every scene he’s in. His awkwardness is constant and total, especially once the on-the-run roomie moves in. The interactions between the two are a treat, with lonely Merl’s optimistic accommodation of Larry running nicely counter to Larry’s issues with the career criminal goombas who are after him. Burgess and Rothery work really well together, aided by a script that showcases the Beckettian absurdities life presents to both men.
But In The Mouth doesn’t entirely work. The ending may have you asking what the hell you just watched, and not necessarily in a good way. It feels like Santilli really couldn’t come up with a climax as convincing as everything beforehand. It’s not the worst ending, but it is certainly not the equal of the rest of the film.
In The Mouth certainly deserves to be nominated for the What The F**k Was That category when Film Threat’s Award This next rolls around, that’s for sure. I don’t know what the f**k it was, but I liked it.
In The Mouth screened at the 2025 Slamdance Film Festival.
"…I liked it."
