Why Swiss Army Man is so much more than Daniel Radcliffe's farting corpse

A testament to the power of cinema - and how it can make you care so deeply about literally the dumbest thing possible

There's a certain kind of film that will inevitably premiere at Sundance.

A madly premised vehicle that begs hashtag notoriety and hushed voices in festival queues, spilling across social media like a public transport sneeze. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the only question you start hearing is, "Hey, have you seen that Daniel Radcliffe farting corpse movie?"

It's hard to avoid cynicism here; if only because, indubitably, if you make a film where Harry Potter plays a farting corpse, people will go see that movie. Festival hype gorges itself on one-sentence elevator pitches; this year's Sundance spread saw not only Swiss Army Man's farting Daniel Radcliffe corpse, but also The Greasy Strangler's monstrously-endowed titular murderer and The Lure's Polish cannibal mermaid musical.

Notoriety's easy to acquire within Sundance's veil of hyperbolism, but beyond that? The word's 'Daniel Radcliffe's farting corpse' are funny for the duration of the words 'Daniel Radcliffe's farting corpse', but how could such a ludicrous conceit actually sustain itself over the duration of an entire film?

Magically, it somehow does. Swiss Army Man is a testament to the powers of cinema, and how it can render you so emotionally invested in literally the dumbest thing possible. That's the underappreciated beauty of cinema.

As Paul Dano's Hank - stranded on an island - resolves to kill himself only to suddenly discover a body on the beach whose farts prove so powerful as to provide his ticket home, and as Hank begins to bond with said body in strange, lyrical ways as they explore the notion of alive and (not) alive; the farting never stops, but still your heart begins to grow and grow.

Swiss Army Man's ingenious gift comes in the ability to so carefully balance the sincere and the absurd. Directing duo The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) have somehow delivered both the hilarious farting corpse movie the Sundance hordes were promised, while simultaneously supporting a sincere and sweetly-delivered narrative on the crippling pain of isolation.

Radcliffe's corpse Manny grows from punchline to a canvas for Hank's internal projections; his hope and his despair, especially when it comes to his strained interactions with women. The farts, if anything, slowly morph into a punctuation to the drama. These are some of the most well-timed farts in cinematic history; interlacing the film's sincerity like the inter-act drawing of a curtain, carefully balancing tone and pacing.

Hank's love affair with crafting an environment for himself out of trash and sticks could potentially slip towards clichéd quirkiness, but The Daniels know just when to slip in a gross-out moment to rectify things.

A movie like Swiss Army Man proves to be both its own best friend, and its own worst enemy; its premise is quick to attract attention, but also drives presumptions of mere surface worth that can be pretty hard to shake off. Something that The Daniels were surely aware of, and a viewpoint Radcliffe himself certainly shares.

"It was a sort of double thing of - on the one hand, I hope this isn't all that people ever say about the film," the actor told The Independent. "On the other hand, it's got people talking about us at a film festival of 1,000s of movies; whatever make us stand out, I'm sort of in favour of. I would have been upset if it had been the only story to have every come out of this film."

Thankfully, it hasn't been. And neither should it be - Swiss Army Man is a strange gem of a film hiding untold worth.

Swiss Army Man hits UK cinemas 30 September.