The more detail you go into describing the plot of Brigsby Bear—the new comedy from SNL’s Kyle Mooney and Drew McRary, a.k.a. Good Neighbor—the crazier it sounds, but here goes. Brigsby Bear stars Mooney as James, a thirtysomething man-child who lives in a bunker with his parents after an unnamed disaster has left the outside world uninhabitable. His only link to the rest of the world is Brigsby Bear Adventures, a kids’ show that most anyone would be able to figure out is being made especially for James, except James is not most anyone. He’s forced to grapple with this fact when he finds out that his personal post-apocalypse has been a complete lie, and has to readjust to life outside of the bunker with his real family. Think Room meets The Truman Show.
And while we can’t promise that tomorrow’s advance screening of Brigsby Bear at 7 p.m. at the Kerasotes Showplace ICON (150 W. Roosevelt) was made especially for you and your fellow test subjects, we’re not saying that it wasn’t, either. You can suss out the truth by following this link and registering for a pair of tickets to the screening, but be sure to arrive early, because advance screenings are often intentionally overbooked. That part we can guarantee.
Brigsby Bear opens in New York and L.A. on July 28, with an expansion in Chicago on August 4. You can read our film editor A.A. Dowd’s review of the movie out of Cannes here.