Feb 1

Feb 1 Sundance Film Festival movie review: 'Mother Schmuckers'

*(Image courtesy of Sundance Film Festival)*

If Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne went on a madcap misadventure through the slums of Brussels, it would look a lot like the appalling Belgian comedy 'Mother Schmuckers' (premiering at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival).

In short: When immature brothers Issachar and Zabulon (starring real-life brothers Harpo and Lenny Guit) lose their mother's beloved dog, she gives them 24 hours to find the dog or she will kick them out.

Upfront warning: 'Schmuckers' is the definitive midnight film festival offering, which is to say this film is absolutely not for everyone. In fact, this shocking and utterly outrageous flick is probably not for most audiences. The film literally starts with its main characters eating shit - so it shouldn't be that shocking when it quickly escalates to the ridiculous and the absolutely absurd. And this over-the-top shocker ends with not one, but two, insane twists that cement this comedy as patently offensive.

Enjoying 'Schmuckers' entirely depends on the viewer's tolerance for idiocy - because Issachar and Zabulon are next-level stupid. Their combined IQ isn't anything to brag about. This weird little comedy opens with the two fools cooking poop on a skillet, filling their low-rent kitchen with what must have been an indescribably terrible stench. It's unclear which of these two dopes came up with the idea or where they sourced aforementioned shit - but these two are so recklessly impulsive that it almost makes sense they'd just make shitburgers on a dare, on a whim or just because they were bored.

Issachar and Zabulon are brothers, but the duo almost acts as a singular being. One has slightly longer hair and the other has closely cropped shorter hair - but they both have the same, stupid constantly confused look in their eyes. And they're apparently in some unspoken contest to out-stupid each other.

'Schmuckers' gets some credit for pulling no punches when it comes to graphic and unspeakably shocking humor that just does not care about good taste or boundaries. That said, the twists the film takes are just pointlessly gratuitous, seemingly only justified by the fact the brothers are imbeciles and everyone around them is without a moral compass. Literally the only difference between the brothers and everyone else in their red light district neighborhood: the guileless morons seem to be too stupid to act in malice. They're basically overgrown children, surrounded by amoral degenerates.

Final verdict: This brazenly gonzo, gross-out comedy goes all out and has all the makings of a cult comedy - loved by the very few who aren't outright disgusted or offended. Its brazen disregard for what’s “acceptable” means sometimes this laugher just takes bizarre and offensive turns that are just totally uncalled for … but are undeniably hilarious.