Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe in Swiss Army Man (A24)

Hank (Paul Dano) is stranded on an island, and after many attempts to communicate with the outside world, he has given up hope. With a noose tied around his neck, he sings quietly to himself, ready to die, when he sees that somebody has washed ashore. Rushing over to the body, he discovers it is a corpse, played by Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe. And not only is it a corpse but an extremely flatulent one.

He tries to make this a moment by beginning a monologue about how he has given up on life before he found the bod, but the corpse’s loud farts interrupt any attempt at making life-affirming speeches. So, Hank goes back to killing himself, but he sees a sight even more miraculous than the initial appearance of the body: the corpse’s flatulence is propelling it into the water. Suddenly, Hank surges with an idea: to use the gas-filled cadaver as a jet ski to return to civilization. Mind you, all of this happens within roughly the first five minutes before the title credits even appear on-screen, and things only gets crazier.

Reports came in from this year’s Sundance Film Festival of walkouts throughout screenings of the movie. The details became viral in a way they don’t for most festival films—maybe your out-of-touch relative also heard of the one where Daniel Radcliffe plays an aroused, farting corpse. For most, it’s a repelling idea, but for a certain segment of adventurous viewers, the setup is like a dog whistle that immediately kicks off a thousand questions, such as “How in the hell will that premise work for a full movie?”

It works by having the corpse speak and becoming a full character, Manny. Radcliffe plays him as a childlike blank slate, unsure of how he got there and the full extent of his powers, which include regurgitating drinkable water and an erection that works like a GPS. Hank and Manny try to use the latter’s abilities to find their way home, but all the while, Manny is endlessly inquisitive, and Hank tries to answer his existential questions to the best of his abilities. Unfortunately, that usually ends with them getting lost in a logic tangle or Hank revealing embarrassing information about himself.

The two try to trigger Manny’s memory and previous identity by acting out what they think Manny’s relationship with his girlfriend might have been like, with Hank playing the role of the girl. This leads to emotional complications. During these sequences, this previously unclassifiable movie starts to resemble a mid-2000s indie romcom, one of those in which the main characters “rediscover” the magic of life. Of course, that would make this about the most imaginative, subversive, and joyfully juvenile version of that kind of film imaginable. For their part, Dano and Radcliffe seem excited to be given material this unique, and they wring it for all the laughs and pathos they can. It’s some of the best work in their careers.

All of this came from the minds of Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as Daniels, who previously directed some of the best music videos of the past few years. Appropriately, music plays a huge role in their feature debut. Hank hums to himself throughout, mixing half-remembered lullabies and improvised thoughts with the likes of “Cotton-Eyed Joe” and John Williams’s music for Jurassic Park. The soundtrack follows his lead with an a cappella chorus as well as a slowly swelling score that compliments everything he sings. Music video aesthetics abound, especially while the guys are play acting, and the Daniels use quick montages that cut back and forth between the various levels of reality and time passing. It’s all very thrilling and charming.

Still, one cannot help but wonder: How are the Daniels ever going to stick the landing? Throughout, they play with the expectations of a third act, raising such questions as whether Manny could be a figment of Hank’s imagination or if Hank is actually Manny but dead and this is all a dream Manny made up before he croaked. Any of the answers could change the tone, and one wrong turn to the maudlin or overly sentimental could ruin all the amazing unconventionality that came before. There is no need to worry. The Daniels remain true to their fucked-up vision to the very last frame. The film world is all the more interesting for it.