Greener Grass just put David Lynch’s idea of “weird” to shame.
The directorial debut, Greener Grass, is unapologetically the weirdest thing to wriggle into cinemas…ever. In essence, it’s a film that relies on shifting its audience into an uncomfortably convulsed variation of modern society to ultimately encourage them to laugh at its absurdity. Director, actor, and writers Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe have transformed creepiness into ingenious comedy.
I have a gut feeling that people who’ll end up disliking Greener Grass will claim it’s just being weird for the sake of being weird—which is a destructively false statement. The movie right from the get-go is audibly being weird for the sake of being funny and furthermore being weird for the sake of offering some hidden commentary. Greener Grass traverses the biggest insecurities that arise from being a parent, the drawbacks of peer pressure, and the eternal longing we consciously have to leave society behind. DeBoer and Luebbe sinisterly play with the way cultural norms fit so critically into our lives by altering them for outlandish effects.
Not only though is Greener Grass an appropriately implemented statement on community and parenthood but it’s also a supremely divergent technical miracle. The way this movie was shot, the camera movements, the heavenly, dream-like lighting, the visual tinting, the electronic/orchestral score, the OCD-inspired set pieces, the radiant costume designs are all, in the best possible manner, representations of the very definition of zany. The exceedingly dorky and slightly psychotic characters—like Ms. Human, the 2nd-grade elementary school teacher who’s engrossing enough to deserve her own spin-off—are, however, the film’s accents. I mean, take our main character, Jill, also for example. Imagine if Anna Kendrick’s quirkiness was multiplied by 100 and matched with some vivid braises, disoriented thoughts, and a mother/prisoner’s mentality. That would perfectly describe Jill.
Greener Grass utilizes awkwardness as an instrument to invent side-splitting satire. It’s a beyond imposing debut from two exceptionally talented female College Humor/Comedy Central/SNL/(Name any Comedy Channel, really) writers/actors, and is hands down one of the best comedies I have ever seen in my entire life. Being the weirdest movie in all of cinematic history happened to just be a bonus asset.
Best poster of the year too—and this has been an exquisite year of movie posters, not to mention.
Verdict: B+
“Greener Grass” is now playing in select theaters and is available to stream on Vudu, YouTube, and Google Play.
Burning the Celluloid 
Published by