Destroy All Neighbors

Destroy-All-Neighbors
Destroy All Neighbors

Two names are worth singling out during the opening credits of “Destroy All Neighbors” a psychotic dark comedy on pestering neighbors and a notorious ‘confirmed serial manslaughterer’. One of them is Rich Zim who made the animated trippy credit sequence that has a mind-blowing fusion of yellow ear wax, human eyeballs, semiconductors, tree-interconnected chips, and a lot more hurling towards time. The next is special makeup effects Gabriel Bartalos who has mentions for working with Matthew Barney, a certified cult artist, and Frank Henenlotter. Then there are the defining faces, Jonah Ray Rodrigues who co-anchors for ‘3000 Mysteries Theatre’, and Alex Winter who co-directed “Freaked” and was also executive producer for the film. You might as well get a glance of casting director Charlene Lee, who had earlier worked on “Beef” and “Fargo” as well as one or two interesting series starring comic actors like “Review” and “Sherman’s Showcase”.

Lee and her crew should also be commended for having contributed to the making of “Destroy All Neighbors,” a slapstick comedy that is not primarily about its storyline or weird jokes or quite a number of special effects or the actors themselves, but rather the sketch style group dynamics of its cast. You may not view this movie with quotes or jabs so quintessential that you will find it difficult to forget, however, such instances shall remain fresh in your memory because of the interesting chemistry of the performers on the set.

Still, there’s a storyline a picturisation which has been seen time and again, a story about an artist who has a creative block but goes out berserk in a playful manner. Will (Ray) seems unable to complete his long overdue (it’s been three years!) album which is borne as a combination of progressive and push towards progressive (or “prog squared”) genres. His girlfriend Emily (Kiran Deol) supports him in any case. Then a stranger moves to the adjacent apartment. Their previous neighbor Alec (Pete Ploszek) reasonably sells his script and moves somewhere else. That new neighbor who has the striking appearance of a bridge troll now has a peculiar habit of booming EDM club music at late times of the night. This is furthermore confirmed by his formidable forelimbs adorned with tattoos, and a newsboy cap crowning his head. This is Vlad (Winter), an unusually friendly Eastern European (?) with a thick accent who can’t stop calling ‘bro’, and who also has a penchant for annoying Will.

Will’s saga does not begin until he accidentally kills Vlad. Until that time, however, he participates in some mild confrontations as a sound engineer for Scotty (Thomas Lennon) a cowardly recording studio worker driven by the need to appease the female casting director of Caleb Bang Jansen (Ryan Kattner), a drugged-out musician known for his fits of rage. Will also runs into Auggie (Christian Calloway) from time to time, a disheveled and seemingly homeless man, who persistently asks Will to buy him a croissant. Seriously, the storyline is not the issue here.

What’s more important depends on your preference for comedy hangouts, in particular, whether you already appreciate the Masada-high concepts that are behind some of the jokes like Scotty’s recurring line where he is always asked to tell us what the rock ‘n roll is about (which he is always wrong about, naturally). Or when Will Whitwhistle, the listener gets referred to as “Swig” Anderson (Jon Daly), a former prog rock guitarist and now an internet music therapist who provides free therapy while sharing too many of his personal grievances such as alimony, his former wives, and yes, how to dispose of a corpse. They have funny touches all over the place but are often not quite enough to sustain entire scenes. In a way, this is a bit of an issue in a movie that is light on plots and consists of a rather indifferent Will moving from one episode to another and in the process discovering how crazy life gets when he decides to stand up for his beliefs.

In the finest moments of the film, Ray twitches, embarrassed by some insecurities, as if he is chewing on an unfamiliar delicacy, considering whether or not the food is worthwhile. The character is well suited for this particular West Coast style filled with cringy yet witty jokes concerning great and or self-centered artists, unoriginal movies, and all-day practice. He is also great at allowing space to his co-actors, dishing ideas with stunning selflessness.

There is nothing odd about Ray working in a team. After all, he used to co-host “The Nerdist Podcast” and later even teamed up with “Mystery Science Theater 3000” creator Joel Hodgson and his robot puppet friends. What is fun however, is to see Ray argue with Deol, tell Daly to shut up, or have an off-screen altercation with a comedian who is listed on IMDB but not in the credits. If that makes any sense to you then congratulations; you are the target audience for “Destroy All Neighbors”.

But honestly, my main reason for recommending “Destroy All Neighbors” dialed up a notch has nothing to do with the plot, but rather how Ray executes his character. Throughout the movie, he also engages in character work which is difficult to say when the man is alone in a room with plenty of other introverts constantly begging for salt and glares. All of these things just make you want to chill with Ray, not that Will isn’t funny as well; it’s just that by the time the plot twist arrives you would’ve learned to love the character. The film wouldn’t work without that crucial lightheartedness; the fact that it works at all suggests that Ms. Lee and her team are the film’s real MVPs.

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