Mars
Written by Sam Brown, Zach Cregger, Trevor Moore, Darren Trumeter (Story) and Timmy Williams (story)
Directed by Sevan Najarian
Starring Sam Brown, Zach Cregger, Trevor Moore, Darren Trumeter and Timmy Williams
Runtime 1 hour and 24 minutes
Premiered at Tribeca Film Festival

by Liz Wiest, Staff Writer

On June 16th at the Village East Angelika, I caught the final Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) screening of Mars, the first full-length film and Tribeca selection from the internet’s favorite comedy troupe, The Whitest Kids U Know (WKUK). This release and festival prestige was met with rigorous delight from their Reddit devotees, as the loss of de facto leader, Trevor Moore, during production in 2021 led to rumors of funding loss and the abandonment of the project entirely. The “Kids”- compromised of the iconic Moore, Sam Brown, Zach Cregger, Timmy Williams and Darren Trumeter got their start at the New York School of Visual Arts, expanded into the comedy world of Fuse and IFC, and have been crowdfunding the feature since 2012. However, even to those without the knowledge of the lore, it’s obvious the entire project was a labor of love.

Mars is the story of Kyle, an all-American male who is fed up with his predictable life. He’s marrying an insufferable woman, inheriting a dentist practice he hates, and sees no hope for the future. On a whim, he enters a Willy Wonka-esque contest hosted by Elron Bronson, an Elon Musk type- billionaire awarding four lucky plebeians the chance to travel to Mars. When he unexpectedly wins a la Charlie Bucket, he leaves his fiancé at the alter and takes off for the Red Planet. Unsurprisingly, the space expedition, and the fellow “astronauts” accompanying him turn out to not be exactly what he expected, and things take a turn for the disastrous.

The voice acting, all done by the guys, is impeccable and immediately invites the audience to become a part of what feels like the inside musings of close friends. The pacing, stakes, and dialogue, despite all of them being coated in absolute absurdity, stand on their own and delivers one of the best full-length comedic feature scripts, animated or otherwise, that I’ve seen in a very long time. The standout performance was truly Kyle’s best friend Cooter, a closeted gay man also voiced by Moore, who descends into all out violent anarchy to save his buddy when he senses something may be awry with the mission.

Coming in at a crisp eighty-four minutes, Mars knows what it is and accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. The screenplay was chock-full of typical WKUK bits and jokes, that even after all this time still feel fresh. For a concept developed in 2012, it’s remarkable how relevant the cautionary tale about billionaires owning space travel remains. Dare I say they were ahead of their time? Admittedly, the animation does leave much to be desired and, in a way, feels half-completed. There are moments during climatic action sequences where you’re taken out of it and feel more like you’re watching a beta version of a video game. Though all things considered, given how dynamic the story is makes up for a problem that could be easily fixed with the promise of more funding. And ultimately, Tribeca is the perfect vehicle for securing the right press attention and representation for exactly that. Of course, how the group plans to move forward creatively following the loss of Moore is a question that has yet to be determined.