Gon Bauer

Gon Bauer from Canadian filmmaker Gary Teperman starts big. Kicking off with some 80s synth and a graphic sex scene (not to be the last), the film throws us straight into the crazy world of its eponymous protagonist, Gon Bauer (Oppel).

By day, Gon (pronounced John) is a surgical technician, real name Michael. By night however, he assumes his podcast persona of the “loud-mouthed, misogynistic asshole” Gon Bauer, where he and his team air their interesting views on women, monogamy, misogyny and other controversial topics that get all the likes and clicks these days.

But Gon, it is soon revealed, is also in a spot of trouble, owing some increasingly impatient bad guys quite a bit of money. But if Gon can help them entertain an acquaintance of theirs by getting them into the local swinging scene, something Gon used to be well acquainted with, they might be a bit more understanding.

Despite an intriguing premise and promise to explore this colourful, seedy underworld, Gon Bauer instead very quickly loses momentum, losing any real sense of urgency, drama or purpose as the two narratives of Gon’s entanglement with these gangsters alongside the podcast sub-plot distract from one another rather than gel together as intended. It feels like two separate stories fighting for attention, with some of the more interesting parts seemingly sacrificed for the podcast thread that is perhaps looking to make some point about internet culture or misogyny or both, but never really gets there.

Its lack of a focused and engaging storyline also means there is no distraction from some of the film's other flaws. While technically the film can’t be faulted, it sounds great, looks better with Teperman and their team showing they definitely have the filmmaking chops, it’s excessive content, middling script, and serviceable-at-best performances far outweigh those positives. Gon is a man with edge, strong opinions and zero Fs given, which in theory makes for a compelling lead to follow, but Gon never actually becomes someone you want to like, win, understand or even follow by the end, something in fact that can be said for most of the characters.

And while Gon Bauer's unforgiving edge and challenging nature is acceptable in theory, it all feels ridiculously gratuitous here, the films excessive language and plot-irrelevant sex scenes never in service in something bigger and instead highlighting the fact that all the female characters lack any sort of agency, instead being reduced to a sex objects or someone to be talked down to.

The world of Gon Bauer could be an interesting one, but unfortunately, this film doesn’t show that. There is a sequel in the works, but while Gon Bauer does show off some very impressive technical filmmaking, the lacklustre performances and script don’t quite cut it this time around.