Written and Directed by Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe
Starring Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe, Beck Bennett, and Neil Casey
Run time 1 hour 35 minutes

by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport 

“Julian just got awesome!”

As the end credits of Greener Grass hit the screen I was left pondering what I just watched. This is not to say that I felt my time was wasted. On the contrary, I found that for a little over ninety minutes, I was treated to a delightfully amusing, somewhat bewildering tale from writer/director/acting team Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe. 

Two soccer moms, Jill (Jocelyn DeBoer) and Lisa (Dawn Luebbe) find themselves living in a highly extraordinary, bright, colorful and competitive land of suburbia. A world that is comprised of braces, quirky fashions and outlandish scenarios. Golf carts are used as the main form of transportation, babies are handed off to one another as tokens and there is a serial killer on the loose deemed the “Grocery Bagger Murderer”. This story is in the vein of a Kids in the Hall episode, set to a John Carpenter score with some David Lynch Twin Peak-ness on the side. It is filled with extremely, often awkward, long takes and is wild. Yet, I found myself loving every minute of it. 

I first saw this movie back in January at the Sundance Film Festival. I was drawn to it after seeing a picture online that was being utilized to market the film. This one 👇

Often film fest flicks can be a complete crap shoot. Decisions are made based on short snippets and a photo that if captivating enough are deemed worthy of my watch list. Sometimes you win when see a flick like Greener Grass and sometimes, despite the movie featuring Sebastian Stan’s eyes, you lose as was my experience viewing, Endings, Beginnings at TIFF. My favorite thing about film festivals, though, is that often the filmmaker is present to introduce the film or provide a question and answer session afterwards. Before the movie even started to play, I knew I was going to love Jocelyn and Dawn’s film based on the energy they had when unveiling it. They were so excited to show this thing they created, that it in turn made me excited. It also inspired me to give filmmaking a try again and pursue the production of the slasher short, Pizzaman (no pressure, but you can help fund the flick here) I wrote with my film pal, Katie McBrown. 

I loved that Greener Grass was written and directed by women, because it is so uniquely done and does not necessarily seem to have a much more deeper meaning than, “Hey, we wanted to make a movie and not just any movie, but THIS movie!”. Which is a really cool, especially for a female made production. Often I find that women filmmakers are expected to have their film deliver a serious or profound message. They are not given the opportunity to just make something bonkers and off-the-wall. I feel in its own way, Greener Grass is making a comment though… only it was given the chance to do that on its own terms. It is refusing to be just a run of the mill comedy. Instead it shows the somewhat horror that one may experience living the cul de sac life through the use of dark humor. 

Situations may play off as ridiculous such as parents completing their child’s homework to ensure they are accepted into rocket math and not be known as “average” or a kid transforming into a dog, only for a parent to realize they are much more happier raising a doggo, than an actual person. Then there is a moment, when a mother scolds DeBoer’s Lisa because her child is now making the use of the word “butt” after having a play time session with her son. This film brings into question the notion of what many may see as the ideal way of life and turns those concepts on its head. Unlike a film maybe from Hollywood’s golden age, this film questions whether this perfect existence of straightened teeth and meticulously combed lawns is worth the price. Are you really living the dream with a kid, a pool, two and a half baths, weekends consisting of pottery painting and soccer matches? The film may seem outlandish, but there was a moment while watching that I found myself getting all Rosemary Woodhouse, realizing some of this is already happening in the world in which we live or it may be on the verge of ACTUALLY happening. Take for example, the 1980s inspired commercial that is shown, advertising “Baby Bird” food product - baby food that is chewed up by a real life mom and spit into a jar, exclaiming, “because machinery is not a mother!”. Seems wild, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see this on the shelf the next time I am strolling through my local Whole Foods. 

I have learned this film was first a short flick (written by DeBoer and Luebbe, but not directed by them), before becoming the feature film debut from the duo. It is available to watch on Vimeo here, along with some of their other shorts.  I’m glad the ladies stepped up and took the reigns for the feature length and I hope it leads to many more flicks, now that Greener Grass has found distribution with IFC. 

In the end, this film taught me that competitiveness leads to misery and that we need more movies that are not afraid to get weird. 

This film opens October 18 in New York and Los Angeles. Also available on demand.