Former Newshub journalist David Farrier's new documentary has premiered at a film festival in the US and the first reviews are praising it as "fascinating" and "darkly funny" while warning it is "highly disturbing" and "incredibly stressful".
Mister Organ follows Farrier as he investigates notorious Auckland car clamper Michael Organ and is drawn into a dangerous game of psychological warfare.
It is his first feature film since 2016's Tickled.
After its world premiere at the Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas on Saturday night (local time), several film critics have published reviews and social media responses, including Jen Yamato of the LA Times who called it "incredibly stressful".
On Slashfilm, Chris Evangelista rated it 7.5 out of 10, calling it "a darkly funny, highly disturbing documentary about a pathological liar".
In a review on The Wrap, Simon Abrams said the documentary is a "captivating portrait of a con artist".
"By the time things end, Farrier and the audience have been on an out-of-control ride that is frightening and taxing," wrote Nathaniel Muir for AIPT Comics.
"Farrier shows vulnerability in allowing the audience [to] get so immersed in this work and the toll it is taking on him. There are many documentaries that fall into the realm of truth being stranger than fiction, but few are as frightening as Mister Organ."
"Mister Organ is an interview with a real-life energy vampire - and a long list of his victims," said Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly writer Katie Rife on Twitter.
"David Farrier's follow-up to Tickled stares into the brain-breaking void of New Zealand's most malevolently boring man."
Film journalist Jacob Hall tweeted: "Mister Organ starts as a pretty funny documentary about a total weirdo before it slowly lowers you into a special ring of hell dominated by a mundane psychopath. Like spending two hours with the worst guy in the world. I was riveted."
Farrier was a journalist at Newshub - which was formerly 3 News - from 2006 to 2015.
Following Tickled, he released the Dark Tourist series on Netflix in 2018. Currently, he has a weekly podcast called Flightless Bird released via Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert network and publishes a written newsletter entitled Webworm.
Mister Organ is set to open in New Zealand cinemas in November.
