A newly married couple is detained in a small European country’s police station. It doesn’t seem like they’ve been there long. They seem like every other American couple, talking about their neighbors and dreaming of tropical vacations. As a one-eyed officer comes in, you realize they are being questioned for smuggling — not drugs — but cabbages. The officer (Steven Yeun) explains that because the vegetable was the only thing its citizens could eat during a recent war, they have outlawed it due to psychological torment. As he walks the couple through the punishment for smuggling a cabbage (including paperwork, a fine, fingertips being cut off, and the offender being shot), they insist that he must be mistaken and the American couple they are looking for cannot possibly be them. When the officer leaves to bring back the man who will start the process, the couple argue about whether they should escape through an unlocked window. As the husband insists that they should, the wife refuses to move. When she finally does, she stands to reveal her pants are filled with small lumps.
If this premise sounds absurd to you, it’s supposed to be. Written and directed by first-time director Evan Twohy, Bubble & Squeak follows said newlywed couple, Delores (Barry’s Sarah Goldberg) and Declan (Yesterday’s Himesh Patel), as they try to flee the country and evade Shazbor (a fun yet underused Matt Berry from What We Do In The Shadows), the obsessed tyrannical head of the police force hellbent on catching them. Along the way, Delores starts questioning their relationship as they meet creepy children, other cabbage smugglers, and a stingy nun.
Twohy knows how to make a movie. Inspired by Wes Anderson, Yorgos Lanthimos, and even Taika Waititi, he thrives on color, symmetry, and visual comedy. The costume design is whimsical yet practical for their time in the woods. Editing, done by Sara Shaw is tight and fast paste. The score, composed by relative newcomer Brad Oberhofer, is the best thing about the film bringing a menacing frivolity to the action.
What Twohy lacks that the aforementioned directors have is an emotional throughline. Not only does Bubble & Squeak lack that, but its absurdity prevents any real character growth from happening. Both Delores, despite Goldberg’s earnest delivery, and Declan feel one note. These characters are almost too grating to spend 97 minutes with. This is solidified in the epilogue, the only scene set in America, where any resolution created in the final act is undone.
The production value is there. Twohy clearly has a developed visual style that is rare for a first-time filmmaker. A former playwright, maybe Bubble & Squeak would work better on the stage? With all of the care that went into it, you’d think a cohesive story would be smuggled into the plot.
Bubble & Squeak premiered at Sundance and competed in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. It has yet to be picked up by a distributor.
