There’s a simple joy in the film festival experience, going into the cinema blind to any buzz and basing your schedule off the appeal of premise alone. It makes the thrill of finding a breakout that much more rewarding, but it makes the letdowns all the more disappointing.

The latter, unfortunately, is the case for Jeffrey Darling’s He Went That Way. 

Billed as a buddy road film that follows a celebrity animal handler who picks up a serial killer whilst traveling to chicago with his TV star chimp Spanky, He Went That Way boasts a strange and unique enough premise to be, if nothing else, interesting. And if handled deftly enough, there would be legitimate potential for the film to have been an entertaining and engrossing thriller/comedy.

Instead, He Went That Way offers a narrative that is a stale and aimless tonal mess with very little to say as it blindly stumbles its way through its sluggish 95 minute runtime.

Even if the premise of the film sounds outlandish, the talent on paper should’ve been enough to make the film engaging. The down-on-his-luck animal handler Jim is played by Zachary Quinto, an actor of immense talent who I wish we’d see more of on the big screen. And the wicked killer Bobby is portrayed by up-and-comer Jacob Elordi, whose fame has skyrocketed after his turn as Nate Jacobs in HBO’s Euphoria.

Instead, Quinto seems to be given very little to work with, as his thinly written character makes foolish decision after foolish decision. And Elordi, a rising star with the poise and menace to be able to pull off a deranged serial killer, awkwardly shouts his way through the film. There’s little to connect with in either of these characters, and their budding friendship is given no basis to build its foundation.

Beyond all of that, the film attempts to hang some of its biggest moments on Jim and Bobby’s relationship with Spanky, a practical effect chimpanzee whose fakeness immediately sucks all the emotion out of each and every one of its scenes. 

He Went That Way, ultimately, is a meandering experience with little to say. It’s a hollow story that attempts to build a core with no substance or weight to give it any legitimacy.