Film Review: “Greener Grass” SXSW 2019 Premiere

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Review & Photo by Taylor Kokas

Haven written and starred in the short film of the same name that premiered at SXSW 2016, Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe are back in 2019 as writer/director duo and once again stars of their debut feature film, Greener Grass. An absurd satire about life in suburbia where people push politeness to the extreme, especially Jill (DeBoer) and Lisa (Luebbe), two soccer moms both married with children. From the beginning we are introduced to the theme of the film, it’s a bright clear sunny day, we find Jill and Lisa sitting on the benches gossiping about one of their friends while watching their son’s soccer game. Lisa interrupts their conversation having noticed that Jill is holding her new baby (which Jill has obviously been holding since the start of the film). Lisa compliments the baby “I love her”, which Jill is taken aback by her words and replies “Lisa…do you want her?”. By the end of the scene Lisa has literally adopted Jill’s new born baby.

I think the director duo succeeded in their mission to express the idea of how far are we willing to put politeness over our own happiness. Over the course of the movie we are shown that idea through Jills relationship with Lisa, as Jill puts politeness before happiness it begins to shatter her life while improving Lisa’s. This film also does a wonderful job of world building from the weekend soccer games, big houses with white picket fences, driving golf carts instead of cars, to every adult literally wearing braces. Sure there are times in the film where it feels redundant but if you posses this sense of humor it’s a must watch. Worth mentioning that SNL’s Beck Bennet plays Jill’s husband in the film, which was definitely a perfect casting choice. Speaking of, the closest comparison is Saturday Night Live, where every scene is pretty much a skit, pushing the absurdity just a little each time while still managing to tell the larger story at the core of every scene. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”5098″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]

Dawn Luebbe (Left), Jocelyn DeBoer (Right)

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