Review of The Chumscrubber

Suburbia pops up on the screen, one house at a time, and it's the most beautiful and peaceful neighborhood you've ever seen… until five minutes later when Dean (Jamie Bell) walks into a room and finds his best friend's dead body hanging by a rope. Chumscrubber writer/director Arie Posin's illustration of suburbia and alienation is as heart breaking as it is hilarious. Kids bury emotion under Prozac, Zantacs, Ritalin, and any other "happiness pills" they can find, while their parents drown their sorrows in one glass of wine after another. In this surreal depiction of life in the 'burbs, every individual is completely self-absorbed and numb to the outside world. A child is kidnapped and his parents never even realize it! So why did I laugh so much? Because every moment of Chumscrubber is either painfully shocking or absurdly hilarious. Posin has created a world where people are completely consumed with drugs, appearances, and "top-tier schools," and the brilliance of it is that he actually makes you want to go back and visit again. And the soundtrack (Placebo, Snow Patrol, The Like) kicks ass!!!