2023 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!
Their mother is dead, murdered–and now it’s time to do the unthinkable, raise her from the dead. Brenda (Sarah Stiles) is a botanist (is that even a real thing) and Billy (Santino Fontana) is a magician living in Las Vegas, and together they must attempt to bring their mother back from the dead before one, or both, of them ends up in jail. This is the story of Brenda and Billy (and the Pothos Plant).
This is a film about murder! This film is hilarious! How does a filmmaker manage to create a film about murder that constantly makes viewers laugh? And, honestly, why does a filmmaker make a film about murder that makes viewers laugh? While I can’t answer the latter, the former is made clear time and time again throughout the course of Brenda and Billy (and the Pothos Plant).
It starts with casting, and Stiles, Fontana, and Catherine Curtain (Mother) possess something that allows every line to be filled with passion and comedy. I have to imagine that Writer-Director Dave Solomon told these actors to let loose, to have fun with each and every line–because that’s exactly what they did. Every word out of each of their mouths feels just a tad exaggerated, just a tad over the top–and they couldn’t have done a better job of bringing their characters and this story to life.
Then we have the dialogue–the words presented to each of these actors. Solomon certainly has a knack for comedy, but he also has a knack for realism, for understanding what really goes on behind closed doors. We all have a family member or friend that seems to find solace in nitpicking at each and every thing that we do when we’re with them–and that can be infuriating. Brenda and Billy (and the Pothos Plant) captures this reality, and the words that Solomon develops to represent these situations, to bring these realities to the screen and present them to audiences in a way that is understood and accessible are brilliant. They feel like the things I’ve thought on numerous occasions, but have felt incapable of saying out loud. The things that have run through my head a thousand times spew from the mouths of these characters like vomit–and after hearing them, they sound just as ridiculous as they do in my head. Brenda and Billy (and the Pothos Plant) combine reality and hilarity throughout using Solomon’s words–and it resonates with viewers in a very visceral way.
Those are the reasons that Brenda and Billy (and the Pothos Plant) manages to reach viewers in a comedic fashion–but there’s much more to the film. Cinematically, the film reaches incredible heights as well, and viewers are transported to a world of physical beauty. Brenda’s apartment is inundated by plants (and that makes sense considering she’s a botanist)–but the abundance of life that surrounds a story plagued by death creates a juxtaposition and a unique message for viewers. Brenda and Billy (and the Pothos Plant) leans heavily on comedy, we know that, but this juxtaposition of life and death that transcends the entirety of the film reminds viewers that even in the darkest corners of the world, there is light, there is hope, there is the potential for good. In a film that uses comedy as a device to tell such a fun and inventive story, having a beautiful message like this exist throughout the film in its entirety is much needed, and welcomed with open arms.
Brenda and Billy (and the Pothos Plant) uses comedy to tell a story that wouldn’t typically be deemed the comedic sort. The film is constructed in a way that allows that comedy to shine brightly, but also allows the underlying meanings of the film to come to light as well. Led by three immensely talented individuals in Stiles, Fontana, and Curtain–Brenda and Billy (and the Pothos Plant) establishes itself early and continues to get stronger as it progresses.
Written & Directed by Dave Solomon.
Starring Sarah Stiles, Santino Fontana, Catherine Curtain, Julie Halston, & Beethoven Oden.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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