An absurdist military satire which turns brooding mystery, Guy X is the second outing for British filmmaker, Saul Metzstein.
The story begins when Corporal Rudy Spruance is ejected out of a military airplane onto a deserted runway. He believes he’s been transferred to Hawaii but when he wakes in a hospital bed after a particularly vicious mosquito attack he finds himself in Greenland where everyone insists on calling him Martin Pederson. Spruance’s CO Lane Woolwrap (an almost unrecognisable Jeremy Northam) appoints him public information officer in charge of morale and as Spruance attempts to find any way out, he falls for the CO’s girlfriend, the beguiling Irene Teale (Natascha McElhone). Cabin-fever and sunless winter days soon send Spruance over the edge and when he stumbles onto the darker side of the camp, we have to question what is real and what is purely a figment of his imagination.
This is a stylish and well-crafted film with cinematography that is at times achingly beautiful. Spruance is played by an excellent Jason Biggs in a turn which gives us glimpses of a future character actor to be reckoned with. JvF
Total Film Recommends: ‘Paranoid and political, Guy X funnels M.A.S.H. and Catch-22 against midnight sun and 24-hour darkness’
