Lee and her workforce deserve recognition for serving to assemble “Destroy All Neighbors,” a comedy that’s much less in regards to the plot—or surreal humor, sensible results, and even particular person performers—than its ensemble’s sketch comedy camaraderie. You could not bear in mind this film past remoted quips and gestures, however these moments will stick in your thoughts given how a lot enjoyable the on-camera performers appear to be having in one another’s firm.
There’s nonetheless a plot, albeit a well-known psychodrama a couple of creatively blocked artiste who by accident goes on a spree. Will (Ray) can’t appear to wrap up his lengthy (three years) gestating progressive prog rock (or “prog squared”) album. His girlfriend Emily (Kiran Deol) helps him anyway. Then a loud stranger strikes into the condominium subsequent door after their outdated neighbor Alec (Pete Ploszek) lastly sells his script. That new neighbor blasts EDM membership music at odd hours of the night time and appears like a cross between a bridge troll and a roadie because of his Popeye forearms, distinguished tattoos, and newsboy cap. That is Vlad (Winter), a chummy, closely accented Japanese-European(?) who likes saying “bro” loads and in addition enjoys pushing Will’s buttons.
Will’s story solely actually begins after he unintentionally murders Vlad. Earlier than that occurs, Will will get into some gentle shenanigans as a sound mixer for Scotty (Thomas Lennon), a spineless recording studio man who does something to please Caleb Bang Jansen (Ryan Kattner), a tantrum-throwing musician who does quite a lot of medicine. May even often bumps into Auggie (Christian Calloway), a bedraggled-looking homeless man who received’t cease bugging Will for a free croissant. Significantly, the plot’s not the precedence right here.
What issues extra is dependent upon your style in hangout comedies, particularly should you already just like the Masada-high ideas behind sure jokes, just like the working gag the place Scotty tells us what he thinks rock ‘n roll is all about (he’s at all times mistaken, in fact). Or every time “Swig” Anderson (Jon Daly), former prog-rocker turned on-line music guru, offers free recommendation to listeners, like Will, whereas sharing approach an excessive amount of private info, together with asides about alimony, his ex-partners, and oh yeah, eliminating human stays. These jokes have amusing thrives all through however are often not robust sufficient to hold complete scenes. That’s sort of an issue in a plot-light film, which careens from scene to scene of a passive Will determining how chaotic his life can get after he (tentatively) decides to face up for himself.