The sense of oneself as the “other” is a primordial and primitive fear; indeed, much of the sense of revulsion at the concept of a doppelganger comes from that fear. Kourtney Roy’s psychedelic cryptid neo noir(?) Kryptic explores what happens when that sense of who you are is blurred and muddled to the point of almost dissolving entirely in the face of the inexplicable and unknowable.
Kryptic has, at face value, a simple and compelling story: while on a hike at the notorious Krypto Peak, Kay Hall learns about the story of Barbara Valentine, a local cryptozoologist who went missing a few years prior in the area while searching for the legendary Suka, a Bigfoot-esque creature said to haunt the area. While hiking, Kay has an encounter with…something that leaves her unsure of what’s real and unreal, and quickly becomes obsessed with finding Valentine to the point of believing that she may actually be the missing cryptozoologist.
This is a deeply, deeply strange film, and I say that wholly as a compliment. A story about someone becoming obsessed with finding a missing cryptozoologist is on its own compelling (to me anyway), but what Roy and screenwriter Paul Bromley do with this concept is utterly fascinating. Imagine David Lynch and Cronenberg making a movie about the story of Jim Carter going missing on Mt. St Helens back in the ‘50s, complete with all the goop, sinister smiling locals, and a woman coming to grips with having a doppelganger you’d expect from the two filmmakers. It’s a movie that ought to be staggering under the weight of its own weirdness but holds its own and presents a tremendously compelling story. Somehow, the unsettling idea of people going missing under cryptid related circumstances is made even more so by going absolutely sideways into such unexpected territory it could be its own separate film. The cryptid aspect feels like it should be focus of the story, and the film could quite easily come off as unfocused. Instead, Roy presents a story that is anything but; it might take the long way home, but this film always knows where it’s going and how it’s going to get there.
Chloe Pirrie as Kay/Barb is the absolute glue of this film. Her depiction of Kay has a sweet innocence that immediately pulls the viewer in, and we are all in from the second things start to go astray. Pirrie makes Kay so likeable that anything bad happening to her feels doubly wrong. As the story progresses and Kay’s sense of who she truly is begins to break down, Pirrie effortlessly shifts into who she thinks Barb would be and it’s a true joy to watch.
Kryptic is a hypnotic journey to some truly creepy places. The filmmakers could have very easily taken the easy route and just told another story of someone missing under eerie circumstances but instead used a familiar concept as a springboard into a nightmarish headfuck of a movie that is absolutely not what you expect.
