CW: cannibalism, suicidal ideation, suicide
Forget life insurance schemes and their salespeople. Their time has waned, and the dawn of the organist has arrived.
Premiering in NSW at the Sydney Underground Film Festival (SUFF), Andy Burkitt’s feature directorial debut, The Organist (2024), is one hell of an indie black comedy. Think Taika Waititi meets a baby splatter film, but make it Australian… or Melbournian.
Meet Graham Sloane (Jack Braddy), an organ-procurement worker who undertakes searches for “ethically sourced, locally grown organs”. He is confronted with the reality that his job benefits a cannibalistic capitalist by the name of Jack (Aaron James Campbell), and is left to face the music — or the HR department.
Graham isn’t acting on behalf of your run-of-the-mill mafia, but is a seemingly happy-go-lucky worker acting on behalf of ‘the company’. He also has his work productivity closely monitored by Tracy (Lena Moon) and Erin (Jess Ciancio) from HR. Despite there not being enough organs to meet demand, Graham eventually decides to take on clients of his own after meeting Riley Reynolds (Luke Fisher), who is sitting on the train tracks and contemplating suicide. The two hit it off after exchanging their backstories and traumas, hatching a plan to save lives using Riley’s organs, with one organ going towards placating ‘the company’ and the rest benefiting “the common man”. Yay, a win for the proletariat!
When Riley no longer wants to commit to the plan, Graham begins to goad Riley so that he can make use of his organs. This shift in dynamic becomes sinister and uncomfortable to watch not only as the audience is left anticipating Riley’s fate, but also because they are bearing silent witness to the gaslighting from Graham who can only see human organs rather than human life.
Additionally, Graham’s bid for corporate social responsibility is rejected by the business, as they tell him to only work with clients accessing services through regular channels. Promising to work one last job in order to avoid formal reeducation, secure his termination and help one of his clients, Graham has to contend with the price of “trading one life for three”.
Written by Xavier Nathan, Burkitt and Braddy, in addition to a story credit for George Goldfeder, the film is very clearly an indie labour of love. Lead actor Jack Braddy was responsible for casting, while Burkitt also juggled the hats of director of photography, editor and colourist. Similarly, actor Goldfeder took care of stunt choreography as Xavier Nathan was involved in editing and script supervision.
Given this outrageous plot, Burkitt is able to balance the sensitive subject matter with sincerity despite the audience getting to see more of Graham’s perspective than that of those on the waiting lists for a matching organ.
While the film is just over an hour-and-a-half, it drags a bit as the reveal of Graham’s schemes feel a little too early, and it is difficult following relatively unlikeable characters. This is best exemplified by the ‘ick’ that are the HR scenes which hammer the point home whether those employed by ‘the company’ really have their employees’ best interests at heart.
Moreover, Johnny Drexler’s arc (George Goldfeder) as a rival colleague to Graham and minor antagonist did not really land, with their showdown feeling underbaked and not as relevant to the main storyline.
Ultimately, what Burkitt has to say about the fickleness of humanity through the organist is what keeps us going. The film’s use of a shaky cam, an eerie and fun soundtrack, plus witty dialogue also enhance the weird, yet restrained tension unravelling in the final quarter of the film.
From the very first scene, the audience is disarmed upon hearing Graham nonchalantly state to a couple, “I’m actually here to buy a kidney… we think you’re a match”. However, it is the ending that not only shows how one can go over the edge, but how human nature can act against itself only to realise the repercussions when it is too late.
As someone studying a HR major, this film may have turned me off this career path. If this is what HR does, I’m out of here. It may be PWC’s loss, but in my books, it’s a win for Andy Burkitt because I was intrigued, repulsed and disillusioned all at once.
The Organist will premiere in NSW on Saturday 14 September from 7:30pm at the Dendy Newtown. A Q-&-A with director Andy Burkitt and actor Jack Braddy will be hosted by Alexei Toliopoulos following the screening.
