Review: HARPOON strands three horrible people at sea in this bloody black comedy

There’s a reason you don’t see many indie movies set at sea. It’s expensive and cumbersome to shoot out on the water, so those types of films (everything from the classic Jaws to the decidedly less-classic Waterworld) are usually big, splashy Hollywood productions. Nevertheless, director Rob Grant manages to set nearly the entirety of Harpoon on a single boat, adding some production heft to his gritty black comedy.

Harpoon opens with Richard (Christopher Gray) beating up his friend Jonah (Munro Chambers), after he uncovers what he believes to be text messages showing that Jonah has slept with Richard’s girlfriend Sasha (Emily Tyra). As Jonah is being beaten to a pulp, Sasha arrives and reveals the text messages aren’t proof of an affair, but a plan to surprise Richard with a gift: a harpoon that the wealthy Richard can use on his family yacht.

In an effort to apologize for his violent outburst, Richard invites Jonah and Sasha out for an afternoon on the yacht, where things quickly begin spiralling out of control. After they’ve set sail, Richard becomes convinced that there is something happening between Jonah and Sasha. As the tension mounts between the three of them and things once again get physical, the trio are beset by some technical issues with the yacht, leaving them stranded with no food or water or communications (all of which is described in great sardonic fashion by narrator Brett Gelman).

Harpoon is often a difficult watch, not only for its intense moments of violence, but because all three characters are so narcissistic that you actively begin to root against them. There’s a weird tinge of satisfaction when one character is accidentally shot by the very same harpoon that started all this madness off, and our sympathies towards the stranded trio evaporate even further with each subsequent betrayal and revelation.

That said, Harpoon remains tense and occasionally hilarious all throughout its concise 83-minute running time. Rob Grant does a lot with basically one confined setting, finding a number of interesting ways to shoot the boat and its set of unhinged passengers, which keeps things briskly moving along as the tension and violence ratchets up. With a few black and white flashbacks and the occasional check-in from Gelman as the narrator, Harpoon begins to feel like a very bloody episode of Arrested Development, a rare mix of deadpan comedy and ultra-violence that works really well with the confined aquatic setting. 

All three of these characters may be reprehensible in their own ways, but the actors at least make them believably shitty people. All three realistically play up the heightened emotions of their dire situation; it may not be the way most people would react to these circumstances, but as we learn more about their backgrounds and motivations, their somewhat over-the-top portrays end up ringing true. 

Harpoon takes a straightforward premise and keeps twisting it into something darker, a bleakness which is offset nicely by some liberal doses of black humour. You may hate each and every person on this boat, but you won’t be able to take your eyes off them. 

Harpoon is in select theatres and on VOD now.