Greener Grass


Greener Grass is a 2019 American dark comedy film, written and directed by Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe in their feature directorial debuts. It stars DeBoer, Luebbe, Beck Bennett, Neil Casey, Mary Holland and D'Arcy Carden. The film had its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and was released in theaters and on VOD on October 18, 2019.

Cast

Greener Grass is based on the 2015 short film of the same name, also directed by Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe. In October 2018, it was announced that DeBoer, Luebbe, Beck Bennett, Neil Casey, Mary Holland, D'Arcy Carden, Janicza Bravo, Dot-Marie Jones, Jim Cummings, Lauren Adams, Asher Miles Fallica, Julian Hilliard and John Milhiser had joined the cast of the film, with DeBoer and Luebbe directing from a screenplay they wrote. Natalie Metzger served as the producer on the film.

Release and reception

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2019. Prior to, IFC Midnight acquired distribution rights to the film. It also screened at South by Southwest on March 9, 2019. It was released in theaters and on VOD on October 18, 2019. Currently available on Hulu.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 65 reviews, with an average rating of 6.85/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Greener Grass is far from the first comedy to skewer suburbia -- but it might be among the most bizarre and surreally distinctive." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Peter Debruge of Variety called the film "an odd and wonderfully upbeat absurdist take on the American dream." Andee Tagle of NPR wrote, "Greener Grass may feel more like a long series of sketches than a feature-length film — but comedy aside, the punchy, Wes Anderson-meets-80's-music-video aesthetic of cinematographer Lowell A. Meyer, matched with Lauren Oppelt's impeccable costume design, offer delights of their own. But if not for the color or the comedy, maybe come for the social commentary. You'll be surprised... by how much a silly, madcap comedy such as this one might make you think."