10 Brilliant Movies With A Terrible Concept

4. Swiss Army Man

Swiss Army Man Daniel Radcliffe
A24

The Concept: Swiss Army Man is about Paul Dano trekking his way through the wilderness with the aid of a rotting, flatulent corpse, played by Daniel Radcliffe.

The inherent silliness of that idea is readily apparent, as is the fact that this seems like another quirky indie drama that's quirky for the sake of being quirky. How can we take Swiss Army Man seriously when its USP is "dead Harry Potter letting them rip for 90 minutes"?

The Movie: While it's easy to laugh at Swiss Army Man's farting corpse for a good few minutes, it's also easy to appreciate how much meaning there is behind every single decision the filmmakers made while crafting this movie.

Radcliffe's character essentially represents how open Dano's character wishes he could be. Throughout the movie, Radcliffe talks about showing his dream girl Sarah how much he loves her, something Dano wishes he could do. Radcliffe also isn't afraid to fart in front of other people, something Dano condemns. The gas has meaning!

Ultimately, Swiss Army Man is telling you to open up, and to not be afraid of who you are and what you feel - it's a great message conveyed in a beautifully unorthodox manner.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!