Doug, a frustrated playwright and middle school theater teacher, learns his ex is dating his nemesis, the school principal. To get revenge and cost him a Blue Ribbon Award, Doug secretly stages the most inappropriate play imaginable.

There’s an audacity here that’s to be commended, and there are moments of brilliance within this absurd premise—particularly come the final fifteen minutes or so, when the film finally coalesces into something properly engaging. But there’s also a painful awkwardness to the whole affair, intentional though it may be, that makes it a bit of a difficult watch. The less you know going in, the better, but imagine a hybrid of Napoleon Dynamite and School of Rock, and you’re in the right neighborhood. It’s a weird, uncomfortable, and gripping dark comedy that doubles as an ode to pettiness and spite. It doesn’t quite work as well as it thinks it does, but it’s nonetheless admirable for its sheer force of will.

The superpower of theatre is, indeed, the element of surprise.

2.5 out of 5 wands.