Writer-director Doug Rao’s keenness to keep much of the story within an intriguing psychological mystery, Dirty Boy, to his chest leaves the audience not always sure whether to trust what they are seeing. It’s a film that takes big swings, but doesn’t always hit.

Isaac is a reclusive schizophrenic who has been raised all his life in an oppressive cult. Straining the patience of the two cult leaders, his constant contemplation of his true parentage leads him to discover the truth about the cult. But what can he do when they realise he knows too much?

Doug Rao, from top to bottom, created a world of mistrust with the viewer in his film Dirty Boy, and it appears as if that has been done very purposefully. We are given an unreliable narrator in Isaac (or Frankie). At all times, we are uncertain whether to trust what we see.

You get that he is trying to place us in Isaac’s muddled mind, and for some of the film, it works wonderfully. However, when it doesn’t, it comes across as a writer who got too caught up in their idea and wrote themselves into a corner with it. But when it’s good, Dirty Boy is very good. Rao has created a world that boasts numerous interesting ideas, and a cult storyline that you could easily watch more of due to its unique dynamics.

Yet, for all of that intrigue, it brings frustration. We are purposely not told more about the outside world, except that this cult apparently has very good connections on the outside. People can send videos to social media or some online platform, thanks to a sphere. You want to learn more about this world we’ve been dropped into, and Rao just flat-out refuses to give us that information. Is it because everything we have encountered is still in Isaac’s mind, so it’s a moot point, and such thoughts are never detailed? Who really knows?

What generally works is the story and world of the cult, a seedy one that takes advantage of young women, as they are mostly used for breeding. The young men are used as nothing more than henchmen; people have their positions, and it’s clear the couple are grooming the men to start their own branches of the cult, thereby increasing their overall power. The grim nature of the women in the cult and those dragged in on the periphery is also interesting. You want to learn more about the ins and outs; however, with a story that keeps changing its factual consistency, you never get it. Even truer to that point is that Rao doesn’t want us to learn about that; his focus is on Isaac’s journey.

Overall, Dirty Boy is more than watchable; it’s just the frustrating moments that are present, as you can see the potential in the script to be something more substantial. It’s a bold debut from Doug Rao, who certainly has the ability to write a compelling story. Well worth a watch.

★★★

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