For those who get their appetites filled by comedies of the ironic and insane variety, Greener Grass – the brainchild of Upright Citizen’s Brigade comics Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe –  is sure to satisfy. Greener Grass first premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and was picked up by IFC Midnight (the perfect distributor to serve up this comedy that’s proudly self-spiked with gleefully bizarro corkscrews).

As its pastel blasted look would indicate, Greener Grass is like an 80s sitcom, if that sitcom was laced with trace amounts of psychedelics (think “Desperate Housewives” meets the demented stylings of “Tim and Eric”). With a never-ending stream of ever-increasing and more-ridiculous-than-the-last riffs, the comedy duo of DeBoer and Luebbe have found a rich space to both explore and explode. They tackle the hokey conventions and mannequin-normalcy of white, affluent middle-class suburbia.

Things kick off when Jill (DeBoer) gives up her baby to her best friend Lisa (Luebbe) in front of her un-athletic son at his youth soccer game. It sets the stage for what is possible in this world, a place where, at every moment, another social norm explodes. The most obvious example is that everyone wears braces, an injected awkwardness that their characters have no awareness. Things like this aren’t a big deal for the women or their husbands, Dennis (Neil Casey) and Nick (Beck Bennett). The rest of Greener Grass has other absurd discoveries that the characters continue to find unsurprising. The murder of a yoga teacher, Nick’s sudden taking to pool water, and getting pregnant with a soccer ball are just a few of the things the film has in store.

Greener Grass will likely be best enjoyed by those who seek comedy on the fringe and inflated past the limits of absurdity. A few of Greener Grass‘s performers are recognizable by self-professed comedy nerds: Bennett on SNL among them, as well as Janicza Bravo (who directed her own wild comedy, Lemon, starring husband Brett Gelman). Greener Grass and the comedic stylings of DeBoer and Luebbe create an amazing imagination space where – at just 95 minutes long – anything goes. And that’s the most liberating part: you truly never know where it’s going to go next. – Ryan Rojas

GREENER GRASS (2019)

Starring: Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe, Beck Bennett

Directed by: Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe

Written by: Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe

Distributor: IFC Films

Running time: 95 minutes

Playing: Opening 10/18 at the Nuart Theatre and On Demand