Josh Forbes’ splattery farce Destroy All Neighbors devotes itself to its prog-rock ethos by throwing all sorts into its cosmic gumbo, and for the most part, it succeeds.
The story of Destroy All Neighbors concerns William Brown (Jonah Ray Rodrigues), a sound technician with longstanding ambitions of writing a prog-rock masterpiece. He’s been struggling to finish his epic for some time, and encounters obstacles to progress in every corner of his life. It’s clear there’s a confidence problem there, as William does that most relatable of things and focuses on the wrong feedback to his work in progress.
But the double header of an irritating musician dumping on his music at work and a loud, surly Eastern European lout named Vlad (Alex Winter) moving in next door at home is the catalyst for big change in William’s life, putting him at his lowest point. Well, for now.
An accident in a confrontation with Vlad sees the abrasive neighbor accidentally decapitated, and William’s situation turns into a farcical escalation of gory absurdity. William becomes embroiled in a delirious descent into murderous madness as he is tormented by the dead.
Destroy All Neighbors gains a lot of charm from its practical effects. From talking disembodied heads to writhing intestines playing the drums, the goofy gory nonsense is a delight to behold. There’s a clear distinction between the humdrum and the skewed cartoonish world that manifests itself once Vlad enters the picture.
Alex Winter has the kind of fun reminiscent of his underappreciated gem Freaked under heavy layers of prosthetics and makeup. Compared to his other, brief role as a lawyer, he’s genuinely unrecognizable as Vlad. It’s a deliberately over-the-top stereotype of an Eastern European tough guy. With everyone in William’s life that he considers an annoyance, there’s an element of projection in how those people are portrayed. The most normal person in the film is William’s girlfriend, Emily (Kiran Deol), and it’s no mistake that she feels so different in tone from everyone else.
But the bloody farce is definitely orchestrated by Jonah Ray Rodrigues. His dweeby downbeat dreamer is a great vessel to channel the gore-splattered absurdity through. His understanding and appreciation of schlocky cinema shines through in his performance, and there’s some genuinely slick line delivery as William becomes increasingly exasperated with his escalating predicament.
One of my favorite moments was a montage that occurs after William and Vlad’s fateful encounter. Ray Rodrigues’ exasperated and exaggerated movement as William goes back and forth between the same two places multiple times is a funny bit, not just because of the mixture of reliability and absurdity in the scene, but in the way he conveys that.
I was surprised at a movie so focused on music not being more obviously musical, but generally speaking, its stop-start musical moments fit the theme of artistic struggle. The only exception came from a rushed finale that definitely deserved a few more minutes to allow for more of a prog-rock explosion.
What Destroy All Neighbors focuses on in regard to music is reaching for the dream to the point of single-minded obsession. Much is made of William’s conflicted drive to finish his personal masterpiece, be recognized for it, and y’know…actually have the gumption to finish it. It’s a relatable mood for anyone who’s ever gotten frustrated about not being able to put the ideas in their head out into the world because of the outside world encroaching on it.
It’s like a grossly exaggerated morality tale mixed with a curse movie. William’s soft approach to life outside music clashes with the need to do something more drastic, and unfortunately, indecision and illogic end up costing him, which is terrible for William, but entertaining for the viewer as he wearily stumbles from one disaster to another.
I suppose if there’s a gnawing criticism of Destroy All Neighbors then it’s that it’s a bit too knowing of the kind of film it wants to be, and sometimes that comes across as it impersonating an 80s splatter comedy rather than being its own thing. Thankfully, this is not a truly damaging issue, but it is one that might leave those seeking that kind of film a little underwhelmed and undernourished.
What Destroy All Neighbors does well is emulate an explainer William has for Prog-rock that I’ll paraphrase. It has a bunch of ideas it throws together, and it doesn’t much care if it’s not for everyone. But those people that understand it? Those people are going to love it.
