Part of me will always appreciate when a nothing film grabs my attention. My brain will look at the nobody cast, the crappy production values, the limited sets, and say, “Holy smokes! I wonder how this film school final project got to me?” I will appreciate the unlikely chain of events from word of mouth to somebody’s “big pocket” parent to perhaps the greasing of a palm or two to get a shot at “major” distribution. What does Hulu care if it advertises one more crapfest in your crawl, huh? Netflix does it, why can’t they? So what if nobody’s heard of the film? Nobody’s heard of half the films Hulu summons for your ennui; what’s one more? Part of me genuinely appreciates the effort it took to bring Zoo-Head to my attention. It’s not a big part of me, mind you, nor does it control the stars I see fit to bestow, but it’s definitely there somewhere.
Charlie (Daniel Ahmadi) is a junkie. I really can’t get enough of what passes for entertainment in certain parts of the cinematic world; this guy has no redeeming qualities, is covered in his own sick for half the film, and yet this is our rooting interest? Tell me, movie, what exactly are we rooting for? Charlie has taken drugs so long, he probably can’t remember why he’s an addict. Wait. Yes, he can. It had to do with the one childhood memory he can still summon, when his father destroyed his life.
The film does little more than hint at how dad destroyed Charlie’s life. All we see in the hazy flashback is a foot crushing a sand castle, some harsh words, and a child screaming. “YOU TOLD ME IT WAS LOW TIDE. IT WAS NEAP TIDE!!” I’m making up that last bit because the film didn’t even give me much to go on.
Among Charlie’s many indulgences is “zoots,” a drug that claims your memories. Doesn’t seem like such a bad idea for a guy who wakes every day in a puddle of his own excretions wondering what that smell is. How he had a girl 
friend (Hussina Raja) this long seems a mystery. Oh. She was a junkie, too. Well that explains it … on exactly one level. How about where he’s getting drugs or how he has an address? Oh, his roomie (Brian Potter Jr.) is his supplier. I suppose that makes sense … on exactly one level.
So here’s the catch: in order to keep being on the dole, Chuckles here has to undergo experimental mind therapy at the local house of mad science. (Geez, if you think conservatives in the US are harsh to welfare recipients, it seems we got nothing on the UK.) The good part is the experimental mind therapy might recreate broken memories and patch together broken personalities as it forces the subject to relive past moments over and over again. The bad news is the experimental mind therapy combined with the Zoo-Head drug abuse might result in a permanent coma. So who’s in?
Zoo-Head markets itself as a poor man’s Groundhog Day, when in reality, it’s more of a poor man’s Requiem for a Dream. This film is ugly, confusing, and difficult to endure. The reason isn’t difficult to suss out given the picture’s desire to label all of its characters as addicts, enablers, or assholes. This is a classic case of – if I were in a film school class an one of my fellow artists produced Zoo-Head, I’d say, “Huzzah! You made a complicated and psychologically challenging film all by yourself! Congratulations!” But this isn’t film school, and I’m not your classmate and I found Zoo-Head to be a film that poses as deliberately confusing to hide the screenplay, set, and budget shortcomings. I don’t need this.
There once was an addict on “zoots”
Controlled by powdered parachutes
A new life he condoned
But I’d rather he were stoned
It was the best of all his attributes
Not Rated, 80 Minutes
Director: Navin Dev
Writer: Navin Dev
Genre: Our screwed future
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fellow classmates of the director
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who believe there’s more to movie-making than making a movie
