What Did Jack Do? – Review

What Did Jack Do?

Directed by: David Lynch

Runtime: 17 minutes

David Lynch has released a surprise short film on Netflix named What Did Jack Do? Here, he interrogates a capuchin monkey in a train station cafe. It’s really quite good.

The bottom half of the monkey’s face is deep-faked to resemble Lynch’s, and he speaks in slowed-down non-sequiturs and defensive replies as Lynch, a hard-boiled investigator, presses him on the details of a recent murder. You’d be forgiven for thinking the monkey’s dialogue is generated by some sort of haywire learning algorithm based on noir films and nonsensical animal metaphors. Essentially, every part of the monkey’s side of the conversation is contrived and artificial, right down to the abrupt musical performance he delivers to express his love for a chicken named Toototabon.

The magic here is the inexplicable illusion of sincere expression that Lynch somehow squeezes out of these unreal parts. Despite the utter nonsense of the conversation and the fact that capuchin monkeys are not renowned for their ability to inflect speaking roles, you can damn well judge that Jack the monkey is troubled by haunted thoughts, that he likely killed a man he suspects of sleeping with his lover, and that he is indignant and resentful of the interrogation process.

And that’s the film. Packaged in the cinematic language of black-and-white, smoke-filled noir, What Did Jack Do? is a testament to the power of style and Lynch’s knack for creating compelling screen presences out of thin air.