Comedy and horror go hand-in-bloody-hand in sketch comedy group Simple Town’s first feature film as a unit, “Big Break”. The ironically titled film slashed its way into Fantasia Festival where its audience was the very first in the world to witness its unveiling.
The members of New York’s cult comedy group “Simple Town” have disbanded. Years later, Sam (Samuel Lanier; “Blood Barn” (2025)), the most successful post-group member due to his movie “The Gummy Bears” being a huge success, invites his estranged friends and former colleagues Felipe (Felipe Di Poi; also in “Blood Barn”), Caro (Caroline Yost; “The Gene Pool” (2025)), and Will (Will Neidmann; “Off the Air” TV series) to his isolated mansion for a reunion weekend of booze and fun. The three confused friends agree to go anyway, scheming to each hopefully get parts in Sam’s sequel to Sam’s blockbuster hit. Mere hours after their arrival at the luxurious residence, dark twists and turns make the get-together and acting pitches transform into a bloody (literally!) hilarious mess that will change them forever!
Big Break
Multi-time collaborating director for the group’s skits, Ian Faria, also makes the jump behind the big screen for his feature film directorial debut, mastering the unholy marriage of the worlds of thrillers and comedies. The script, written by cast member Samuel Lanier himself, reminds of an underlying plot from a similar film that premiered at Fantasia in 2025, but that will remain secret so as to not spoil anything. That being said, “Big Break” takes a different path in the latter portion of the film, thankfully separating its outcome from this other mystery title. The dialogue throughout the film progressively gets more priceless as the tale progresses, in addition to conversational misunderstandings that amplify the hilarity. The more the film wears on, the funnier the plot unfolds. As for high points in the movie, once a major secret is revealed and the audience might think that was the climax of the plot, things continue to escalate in the most comical and surprising of ways, right to the very last scene.
The cast members have undeniable chemistry onscreen. Of course, having worked together for almost a decade, through online videos, live shows onstage, and TV skits, their natural chemistry has blossomed and culminated into their literal “big break” on the silver screen. Di Poi, Yost and Neidmann definitely have a grasp on their characters’ intentions; characters who will unquestionably grow on viewers, as each of them becomes less and less subtle in their attempts to convince, influence, and seduce Sam into casting them in his next movie (Caro is pretty much living in her car, at this point). While each member of the group has had cinematic or television experiences here and there, this first motion picture collaboration definitely hits the humorous nail on the head. Perhaps future movie projects together might evolve into a Broken Lizard-like tendency? Who knows.
That being said, “Big Break” has a rather common soundtrack as heard in countless thrillers before, adding nothing memorable or original to the experience. Luckily, the entertainment factor from Simple Town’s onscreen presence greatly make up for that. In addition to the stereotypical score, Ian Faria’s film could have used for some more extreme violence, accidental or not, to amplify the shock factor of the events. Some graphic gore and domino-effect deaths à-la-“Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil” could have created some legendary visual memories for the audience. Perhaps budgetary restrictions were a challenge; maybe it wasn’t the direction that the filmmaker wanted to go.
One of the funnier thrillers at Fantasia’s 30th edition just premiered and, hopefully, it’ll be available for more audiences to view, whether it’s in general movie theatres or VOD. Ian Faria’s “Big Break” receives a score of 3.75 eyes out of 5.
For more comedy horror, check out our review for “Hold the Fort“.
