Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls
by Hope Madden
Are you prepared for Onyx the Fortuitous?
I don’t know.
You may recognize Andrew Bowser as Marcus Trillbury, a character Bowser inserts (pretty seamlessly) into Detroit news broadcasts, just a passerby with his own take on newsworthy events.
Writer/director/star Bowser brings his YouTube channel weird guy to the big screen with Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls. Onyx (Bowser) is kind of Jack Black crossed with Napoleon Dynamite. He’s invited to attend a ritual at the mansion of Satanic luminary Bartok the Great (Jeffrey Combs) – one of five in all the world with such an invitation.
It is literally the greatest thing that has ever, ever happened to Marcus Trillbury. Onyx. Onyx the Fortuitous. If everybody could just call him Onyx the Fortuitous…
Once at the mansion, Onyx the Fortuitous meets four other people who accept him without reservation: Mack (Rivkah Reyes), Jesminder (Melanie Chandra), Mr. Duke (Terrence Carson) and Shelley (Arden Myrin). It looks like Onyx has not only found friends, but once the ritual is complete, he’ll also have immortality! What could be better?
I don’t know.
Could something unsavory be afoot? Might there be reason to distrust longtime occultist Bartok the Great? And what of Farrah the Disciple (Olivia Taylor Dudley)?
Shout out as well to Barbara Crampton playing Marcus – I mean, Onyx’s smokin’ hot mom.
What follows is kind of a Scooby-Doo episode, if Scoob and the gang were active occultists seeking league with Satan. It’s campy fun, but your enjoyment 100% depends on how long you can find Bowser’s character funny. If the opening few minutes don’t sit well with you, watch no farther. Indeed, even if you do laugh out loud early and often, likely the lengthy and meandering gags will try your patience and the Beetlejuice callback will just feel ill conceived.
And yet, for a wholesome (if you’re not offended by Satan), goofy good time, Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls is an excellent bit of fun.
