‘Mars’ Review – The Whitest Kids U Know Go Out In A Crass And Cosmic Blaze Of Glory [Tribeca 2024]

The first time beloved sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U’ Know (WKUK) made a movie, things didn’t go so well. Adapted by team members Trevor Moore and Zach Cregger from an idea pitched to them by Fox Searchlight, Miss March was a critical and commercial failure that, though lightly defended by fans, failed to launch the group into any success beyond their television series. Since then, Cregger and Moore had made it the butt of an ongoing joke, and probably for the better (additionally, Cregger went on to direct the smash hit Barbarian, becoming a filmmaker to watch and making Miss March an afterthought). The team – additionally consisting of Sam Brown, Darren Trumeter, and Timmy Williams – was still eager to make another film, however, leading to the announcement of Mars in 2012. 

Now, 12 years later, the film is finally seeing the light of day despite a tumultuous path getting here. The film’s script, a WKUK-original, had gone through several rewrites when, due to the pandemic, the film transitioned from a live-action film to an animated one with the help of studio Midnight Kids. The film had begun crowdsourcing its microbudget through Twitch livestreams when Moore unexpectedly died from an accident in 2021. Thankfully, the group’s de facto leader had completed his work on the film prior to his death, but Mars had now gone from an exciting passion project to a teary-eyed tribute and, at the group’s discretion, a bittersweet swan song.

It’s important to establish all of this context because, sitting in a packed house of ardent fans (many of whom had donated to the project), Mars plays like a crass and cosmic blaze of glory. Set to a crude, hand-drawn animation style and brimming with sophomoric zingers straight from the WKUK playbook, fans will be howling as the group’s signature brand of humor is translated to the big screen. For them, it will be a long-awaited, culminating moment. However, for a more unassuming viewer, their mileage may vary. Those who missed out on the WKUK bandwagon may find it hard to ease into their stylings, especially when it’s actively leveraging paper-thin plotting and visibly low-budget animation.

Our story begins with Kyle Capshaw (Cregger), a disillusioned dentist on track to marry his gorgeous, if possessive fiance (Trumeter) and inherit his father-in-law’s dental practice. Kyle, in fear of the inevitable suburban oblivion, enters his name into a raffle organized by billionaire Elron Branson (Moore, playing an obvious parody of Richard Branson) that will send its four winners on a privatized space mission to colonize Mars. Against all odds, his name is selected – on the day of his wedding no less – and he ultimately decides to abandon his life on Earth and get a fresh start. Joining him are religious nutcase Wimmy (Williams), teacher and burnout Todd Sullivan (also Moore), and grown-up kidnapping survivor Peggy Bork (Sam Brown). 

The allure of the trip is quickly destroyed by both his fellow travelers, all of whom prove to be insufferable, and the false luxury of Branson’s meager offerings once at the space station. Things quickly go awry for reasons that shall remain unspoiled, during which Kyle and his crew strive to find a way to return home before it’s too late. Despite its excitingly topical narrative framework prodding at the Elons and Bezoses of the world, Mars struggles to earn its feature length, often feeling like a series of CollegeHumor YouTube sketches stitched together by plot contrivances. It’s clear that WKUK are using their narrative as a jumping-off point purely for laughs and, credit where credit is due, their script is so laugh-a-minute and makes fun of so many different talking points that everyone will find something to latch onto and giggle over (one extended gag about acronyms is simply inspired).

It would have been okay for Mars to simply commit to complete absurdity, however, it still attempts to give its characters arcs and they feel half-baked. Kyle’s development is especially bizarre; his quarter-life crisis is a reasonable starting point, posing him as the film’s straight man in a world of loonies. However, an out-of-nowhere joke involving Kyle’s sexual relationship with a porcelain doll (this appears to be an inside joke with the fans, who were dubbed “doll lickers” if they supported the film) completely recharacterizes him. His relationship with his fiance, Candace, is also reappraised halfway through the runtime, incredulously framing Kyle as an antagonistic boyfriend. Little of this is supported by the film’s writing and feels like a false attempt at narrative poignance.

The lack of substance is somewhat surprising given how many drafts the script supposedly went through before production. However, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising. WKUK have always worked within a low-budget, slapped-together aesthetic, and it continues here even in animated form. However, this lack of resources feels like a hindrance this time around. Midnight Kids’ work, spearheaded by its founder and Mars‘ director Sevan Najarian, occasionally squashes and stretches to match the script’s heightened humor; one sequence toward the end featuring Kyle’s friend, Cooter – also voiced by Moore – is one of the funniest, in part because the animation gets more expressive to reflect the character’s meth-driven antics. Outside of that, however, backgrounds feel minimally detailed, character models go in and out of 3D-rigging, and the entire production feels more fit for online video than it does for the cinema.

However, none of these complaints ultimately matter at the end of the day, at least not for the film’s intended audience. WKUK’s blood, sweat, and tears are in every frame of the film, making it the exact film they set out to make for the fans who helped resuscitate them for one last on-screen hurrah. It just simply isn’t concerned with satisfying anyone else, which makes this critic wonder if the film has an audience outside of the fanbase that helped build it.

The era of YouTube comedy that WKUK excelled in – which was predominantly an unhinged boys club that more-than-occasionally dipped into cancellable territory – has long been outgrown, making WKUK somewhat of a sketch comedy artifact. Mars appeared to be a chance for them to regain mainstream appeal, or perhaps stretch the boundaries of their usual shtick by transitioning into animation. With neither of these two pipe dreams satisfied, the film remains a fun time but only if you are willing to give into its intrepidly stupid spirit. For the doll-lickers out there, it will be a total blast. For those who can’t, the film will likely amount to little more than an afterthought.

Mars held its World Premiere as part of the Midnighter section of the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. It is currently seeking distribution.

Director: Sevan Najarian

Screenwriters: Trevor Moore, Zach Cregger, Sam Brown

Rated: NR

Runtime: 84m