This bizarre retro comedy, shot entirely on VHS and Beta, follows 12-year-old Ralph as he accidentally records home videos and his favorite late-night shows over his parents’ wedding tape.
Nothing can truly prepare you for “VHYes.” I missed it at Fantastic Fest and that was one of my regrets since everyone walked away talking about this movie. The film follows Ralph (Mason McNulty) when his parents give him a video-cassette recorder for Christmas. We follow Ralph as he records adventures with his friend Josh (Rahm Braslaw), the TV shows he watches, and tiny hints of his parents’ rocky marriage. The film could easily settle for a bizarre series of parody ’80s TV shows, but it aims for loftier ambitions. The ending, which I can’t exactly describe, delivers something strong as the sum total of its parts. Equal parts comedy and heartfelt drama, “VHYes” is a successful experimentation of form as well as function.
So much of this movie rests on the shoulders of two child actors. Not only do McNulty and Braslaw deliver pitch-perfect performances, they also do it in the raw ’80s aesthetic of the entire film. In other hands, it would feel saccharine or juvenile but their performance helps contextualize the endless channel-switching throughout the movie. We’re given a glimpse into Ralph’s mind through the late-night TV he records on his camera. They never have to go to extremes and ultimately get to play a whole lot, but they carry the movie so well. In one of the few dead serious moments, we get a powerful glimpse into their tiny minds even though they say very little.
The sketches on the TV play like extra bits from Tim Robinson’s “I Think You Should Leave” as they drip with oddball humor and dry wit. They bounce between lampooning Bob Ross, startling chemistry between two hosts on the shopping channel, and a “guess what this is” format so simple it can’t help but garner a laugh or two. It helps that the actors in the sketches run like an A-list of comedy geniuses: Thomas Lennon, Charlene Yi, Kerri Kenney, Mark Proksch, and even some subtle cameos from Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins.
The whole thing comes together smoothly by tying into the loose narrative of Ralph’s childhood. We see him singing the songs he’s watched on TV and playing with his toys. We watch him grow up and develop a sense of his brain by basically watching TV alongside him. In the tidbits we get of his parents’ potential divorce, the film finds its heart and transcends beyond being just a lo-fi sketch comedy show. Truly, it goes way beyond that in the last twenty minutes as television and reality blend together. We’re left with a phantasmagorical sprint through all the TV we just watched.
I heartily recommend this film for all viewers. It’s got heart. It’s got laughs. It’s got childhood innocence on its mind. Stick around for the credits too! You’re gifted a short window into the production of the film. Go watch this film in all its lo-fi glory!
In Select Theaters Sunday, January 12th
