In a dystopian California that feels uncomfortably close to our own headlines, the State has finally seized the means of reproduction. You don’t just get to be a dad; you have to earn it. We follow four men, each desperate for the government’s golden seal of virility, as they trek into the remote mountains for a mandatory sanctioned retreat. They expect a drill sergeant or a clipboard-wielding bureaucrat. Instead, they find… nothing. Just an empty site and a collection of the most soul-shattering, creepy infantile automatons you’ve ever seen.
These aren’t your niece’s dolls. These are mechanical government tests designed to push these men to the brink. Left without instructions, the men descend into a tribal, frantic madness to prove they can provide and protect.“It’s a pressure cooker where the steam is made of repressed masculinity, and the whistle is the sound of a robotic baby crying in the dark.
Kelley and Sherman (who also star) have crafted something that is darkly hilarious one second and genuinely horrific the next. It’s a satire of the “Alpha Male” industrial complex that manages to be both a sci-fi nightmare and a timeless fable.
If you like your sci-fi with a side of existential dread and your horror served in a government-mandated diaper, this is the one for you. It’s a bold, bizarre debut that marks Kelley and Sherman as filmmakers to watch—preferably with the lights on and your own kids safely in bed.
Extras include commentary with Neal Kelley and Jono Sherman, two episodes of the C.U.P.S. web series, extended and alternative scenes and an improv reel. You can get this from MVD.
