Brigsby Bear

Director: Dave McCary
Screenwriters: Kevin Costello, Kyle Mooney

Institute History

Description

After 25 years of secluded existence with his protective parents in their isolated, off-the-grid home, James is tossed out into a new life in relatively daunting Cedar Hills, Utah. As his world upends, the most shocking revelation to James is that he’s the only person who has ever watched his favorite television program, Brigsby Bear Adventures. Struggling to adjust to the show’s abrupt end, he begins to see Brigsby’s lessons as his only way to make sense of a big, scary new world, and James decides to make a movie to end Brigsby’s story—and re-begin his own.

Kyle Mooney (who also co-wrote the film with Kevin Costello) portrays imaginative man-boy James with infectious earnestness, imbuing warmth and humor into James’s efforts to make friends and integrate into his new reality. First-time director Dave McCary balances off-beat comedy with a unique ode to the joys of filmmaking, featuring standout supporting performances by Greg Kinnear—as a friendly detective bitten by the acting bug—and Saturday Night Live alums Andy Samberg and Michaela Watkins.

— Heidi Zwicker

Screening Details

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