Co-writers/co-directors Caden Ahmad and Aryan Chaudhari’s Stathamism is a cunningly funny short comedy about the lunacy and the dangers of backyard cult societies. In this The Wicker Man meets Nothing But Trouble account of a crazy gang of coke-sniffers that worship the movie CRANK.
Patrick (Aidan Kelly), fired from his job and feeling dejected, rides his scooter over to the local bowling alley, where his girlfriend Lilith (Asia Lever) works. Patrick hits her with the bad news, but she looks for the positive. She tells him about this group she’s been following on Reddit, a cult that promises spiritual release via the ultimate rush when surrendering to the power of Stathamism. With no job to go back to and no one rushing into the bowling alley, the couple heads for the cult’s commune.
In an isolated dwelling, the cult members greet Patrick and Lilith pleasantly outside before inviting them in and having the doctrine explained. It turns out the cult leader was watching CRANK one day and had an awakening. Statham’s character in the movie must remain adrenalized, or else he dies. So the initiation begins, and they pass the cocaine around. That is, until Patrick experiences a sudden change of heart and a desire to leave. But Lilith wants to hang around. So, Patrick, caught in this weird nether region, being torn in two mentally by cocaine and CRANK, makes plans of his own.
“…a cult that promises spiritual release via the ultimate rush when surrendering to the power of Stathamism. “
Stathamism is a different beast of a cult-themed dark comedy, taking a truly serious subject and focusing on the ludicrous nature of what are ostensibly self-help groups that abandon reason and accountability in favor of control via substance abuse and psychological derangement. The only issue with this being a short film is the set-up is shorter than the pay-off.
Additionally, it should be noted that Stathamism isn’t actually the practice of worshipping Jason Statham. “Sayson Jaytham,” a fictional Croatian action star, is not Jason Statham himself, and it would have added an interesting level of mercurial dread if the cult’s full intentions and rituals were explored further, as the crammed nature of the runtime and the lack of anything except coked-out bliss from the cast belies the sense of what could have been eerie.
This reviewer freely admits that what might have capped Stathamism off was an actual appearance from The Stath himself, but as he’s a working man paying for his shelter and keeps bees in his spare time, that was always going to be a big ask. Still, this tiny chuckle-thon that studies the stupidity of organized pseudo-religions is inventive, shocking, and, for the most part, satisfying in its creative comment on an oftentimes sinister subject.
"…cunningly funny..."
