If someone placed a gun to your head and forced you to describe the upcoming Lorne Michaels-produced comedy Brother Nature based solely upon that information, odds are you’d survive just fine. “Well,” you’d probably say, “I’m guessing it stars two of Saturday Night Live’s current cast members, one of whom plays an uptight prick who spends two hours being tortured by a dumb but well-meaning clod, who’s played by the other one. Based on the title, the two main characters are either brothers or brothers-in-law, and the whole movie takes place on a camping trip— No, it’s a lake house. Of course, there will be plenty of other SNL and SNL-adjacent comedians filling out the smaller roles (probably wearing stupid wigs). There will be at least one instance of testicle battery, one instance of a wild animal causing a ruckus, and some sort of painful-looking skin irritation. Also, Kumail Nanjiani is probably in it, because he’s in everything lately. Am I close? Please don’t kill me!”
Once you’re home with your family, you’ll learn that the film stars SNL’s Bobby Moynihan and Taran Killam, with Gillian Jacobs, Bill Pullman, and Rita Wilson rounding out the main cast. Kenan Thompson, Sarah Burns, David Wain, and (you guessed it) Kumail Nanjiani pop up in supporting roles. You’ll kind of kick yourself for not guessing that Killam co-wrote the screenplay with a young upcoming screenwriter who was also recently hired to script a pop-culture-inspired likely disaster (Cameron Fay, a Pez movie). What you wouldn’t have guessed is that it’s directed by Matt Villines and Oz Rodriguez, who have only made shorts prior to this.
Brother Nature will arrive in theaters on September 9.