It’s no wonder that it took almost ten years for another Chuck Palahniuk novel to come to the big screen. Fight Club left enormous shoes to fill, being the perfect blend of classic Palahniuk plot and David Fincher flare. But now we have Choke. While it isn’t the jaw-dropping spectacle that Tyler Durden evoked, it’s still a film worthy of its novel roots.

Choke is the no-bling cousin to Fight Club – the same charm without the flash – smart and caustic thought nestled into simple filmmaking. Sam Rockwell stars as Victor Mancini – sex addict, historical interpreter, and choking con man. He spends his days trying to avoid the fastidious colonial village manager Lord High Charlie (played by the film’s director Clark Gregg) at work, having sex in the next room while his fellow addicts visit the regular sex support group, and placing food deep into his throat to choke. The latter is part of a careful con – Victor begins to choke, and throws himself at a fellow restaurant-goer that he feels he can bond with. After giving the stranger the endorphins associated with good deeds, Victor preys on them, tapping into the patron’s kindness to get money down the line.

But it’s not at all for his personal gain. (Well, except for the sex.) Victor pulls in the extra choking wages to help pay for the mental institution that his mother Ida (Anjelica Huston) is staying in. Suffering from dementia, Ida always sees Victor as a different man from her past, and never as her son. This leads her to reveal some shocking information about his father, and Victor goes on a quest to find the truth. He’s helped by his mother’s new doctor, Paige (Kelly Macdonald) and his friend and colonial cohort Denny (Brad William Henke). But considering the fact that Paige wants to have sex with him to save his mother, and that Denny is a chronic masturbator, this isn’t your usual tale of hidden secrets and mother-son relationships.

With a good handle on how important it is to balance perversity with charm, Rockwell is Victor Mancini. While on paper the story sounds completely absurd, on the screen and in the capable hands of Rockwell, it seems possible. This is due not only to Gregg and Rockwell fully living the material, but that each bit of badness is intermingled with goodness and vice versa. There’s a method to the madness, and something to be gained from every piece of the perverted puzzle.

That being said, Choke is not for everyone. The Palahniuk fan that can survive subtle changes to the story (the end holds a similar attitude, but is entirely different), should enjoy it. Those that like a bit of weirdness in their films should be happy. But as the gentleman who walked out of the film ridiculously early reminded me, the Palahniuk palate is not for everyone. But at least Gregg tackled it well.