Hank is stranded on an island and ready to give up when a corpse washes ashore. The body can talk, float and solve problems with its gas, and the two become friends on the long trip home. Watch how the Daniels play a ridiculous idea completely straight until it turns into something tender.
Swiss Army Man is a 2016 comedy, adventure and fantasy film directed by Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (2 narrative, 1 psychology, 1 sound and 1 cinematography), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Everything Everywhere All at Once uses several of the same techniques.
Showing extreme, violent or surreal events while the characters react as if nothing unusual is happening. That mismatch is funny and unsettling at the same time.
How this film uses it
Hank treats a farting corpse as a perfectly good jet ski, and the film never winks at you. The straight face makes the gag funnier, and it also tells you how lonely Hank is to take the help.
Where to see it
Corpse jet ski: Hank rides the body across the water, pushed along by its gas, until they reach the mainland.
Having a character invent and keep up a false version of reality to shield someone they love, or themselves, from a truth too painful to bear. The lie is a way to survive.
How this film uses it
Hank tells Manny a story about loving a woman from the bus, which is really his own fantasy. He keeps the story going so he never has to face how alone he is, and you slowly see the lie for what it is.
Where to see it
Playing Sarah: Hank coaches Manny on how to talk to women by playing Sarah himself, and the two share a kiss.
Writing and playing the music while filming, so the score shapes how the actors move. The rhythm sits inside the scene like a nervous system.
How this film uses it
The music was written before the shoot, and Daniel Radcliffe has said it played on set during certain scenes. That means the actors moved to it, and the score feels like part of the scene instead of something added later.
Where to see it
Cave stay: Hank and Manny shelter in a cave, where Hank starts teaching the dead man about life.
Building sets and props from scavenged trash and plants so the world looks handmade. The visible patchwork shows how characters make meaning from whatever they have around them.
How this film uses it
Hank stages dinners, a movie and a party out of garbage and branches. The crude sets look silly, yet you feel how badly he wants a normal life to share with someone.
Where to see it
Staged outings: Hank builds crude props and sets from plants and garbage so he and Manny can act out dinner, a movie and a party.
Building up to a big emotional release slowly, by investing in the characters and giving small bits of hope. When the release comes, it feels deserved after all the suffering.
How this film uses it
After all the jokes about gas, the ending lands on grief for Hank's mother and his distance from his father. By then you care about both men, so the last moments feel deserved.
Where to see it
Final flight: Hank is cornered on the beach and arrested, and Manny floats back into the ocean on his own gas as the two share a last smile.
Questions
Swiss Army Man: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does Swiss Army Man use?
CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Swiss Army Man (2016): Deadpan Absurdism, Protective Fiction, Score Composed on Set, Found-Object Set Design and Earned Catharsis.
Who directed Swiss Army Man?
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert directed Swiss Army Man, released in 2016. CineCode also covers Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).
What films are similar to Swiss Army Man?
Films that share techniques with Swiss Army Man include Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), A Little Princess (1995), Tomboy (2011), Bugonia (2025).
