Mister Organ

After delving into the surprisingly sinister world of competitive tickling in hit documentary Tickled and travelling to some of the world’s strangest tourist destinations in Dark Tourist, investigative journalist and filmmaker David Farrier once again dives down a bizarre rabbit hole with Mister Organ. Although his latest film doesn’t have the same degree of shocking twists and turns as his previous work, viewers will nevertheless find a fiendish stranger-than-fiction story about a central figure who’s more urban legend than man.

Farrier’s journey begins while investigating a curious case at a car park outside an Auckland antique shop, where a man has been clamping anyone who parks there and charging them an eye-watering $760 for removal. This person is Michael Organ, and, as Farrier begins to tug at the thread to figure out who he is, he finds himself consumed by a twisting character study that will swallow half a decade of his life.

Before Organ sits down for an interview, wearing an expensive-looking scarf and sunglasses, he’s already painted as an eccentric figure. Not only has he falsely claimed to be a lawyer representing the antique shop, but he’s likewise asserted that he comes from royal lineage (something that’s been definitively proven false). “This is exactly my kind of weird mess,” Farrier narrates to himself; however, it’s not long before events take a dark, even frightening turn.

Talking to Organ’s former flatmates uncovers a dangerous and violent side to the man. There are shades of similarities shared between Organ and Tickled’s antagonist in that both subjects are bullies who use intimidation and manipulation to gain power over others. But when Farrier finds himself in his subject’s sights after receiving strange threats and tedious phone calls that go on for hours, the narrative begins to touch on what it’s like to be on the receiving end of harassment.

About halfway into the documentary, Farrier becomes visibly distressed by his prolonged interactions with Organ. “I’m trapped with him,” he confesses, and he is. This only seems to intensify the enigmatic individual’s tactics against the director, purposefully stringing him along so that he’s all but forced to continue making his film. There are no rug-pull revelations at the end – there’s just more confirmation that Michael Organ is a disturbed and dangerous individual.  

Andrew Murray

Mister Organ does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Glasgow Film Festival 2023 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Glasgow Film Festival website here.

Watch the trailer for Mister Organ here: