Adam Egypt Mortimer’s Archenemy (2020) is the minding-bending, genre-breaking superhero film we need right now.
That is to say, it’s not much of superhero film at all.
There are no monsters to fight, no true villains. It’s not even clear if there is a heroic protagonist. Instead, Mortimer uses his gritty story to talk about the tragic fallout that inevitably follows addiction and the pursuit of endless power.
Archenemy is about disgraced superhero, Max Fist (Joe Manganiello). Fist is a homeless man living on the streets and bartering his grandiose tales of interdimensional heroics for free whiskey. His depression and self-destruction are stalled when a young, aspiring journalist named Hamster (Skylan Brooks) begins following him and documenting his stories and exploits. Their burgeoning relationship becomes a bloody tale of survival when a crime boss targets Hamster and his sister, Indigo (Zoelee Griggs). Read more
