Heavy Trip (2018) Review

Heavy Trip (2018) Review

Life isn’t great for Turo (Johannes Holopainen – All the Sins), he’s stuck in his hometown, a small village in Finland where not much happens. The only thing that makes him happy is being the lead singer of amateur metal band Impaled Rektum.  He and his bandmates are not what you’d call successful…it’s been 12 years practicing in their parents’ basement and they’ve never played a gig…no, not even one.  But is their luck about to change?

An encounter with a festival promoter could be their ticket out and they decide they’re going to play at Northern Damnation – the biggest metal festival in Norway – come hell or high water.

So begins a torturous and uproarious (for us) road trip journey which sees them stealing a van, a drummer and even a corpse. With the Finnish police and Norwegian army on their tail, will they fulfil their quest to hit to the big time?

The marketing blurb does the film a disservice by calling it a ‘Finnish version of Spinal Tap’ – a quote taken from the LA Times. The two movies share some DNA in the respect that they are both very funny films about rock bands but that’s about it. The guys in Heavy Trip are amiably naive whereas the band Spinal Tap are amiably stupid, one is a straight-forward narrative film, the other is a mockumentary, one features a band looking for their first big break and the other features rock-stars unaware that they have passed their sell-by date.

Both are very entertaining films but by flogging this title with a comparative to the mighty This is Spinal Tap will only have fans of that film scoffing at the notion that there’s a new kid on the block. These movies are very different beasts but both are very funny and welcome repeat viewings. You’ll warm to the band members in Heavy Trip and you’ll end up wanting to spend more time with them.

It may sound rather odd to label a film that features a crowd-surfing corpse, a bunch of guys dressed as Jesus and his Disciples for a stag party being treated as terrorists and profuse vomiting as utterly charming and disarming but it is. Your enjoyment of Heavy Trip isn’t dependent on an enjoyment for the heavy metal music they play; Heavy Trip will appeal beyond that fanbase and is definitely a cult movie in waiting.

TRAILER