If you’re not familiar with Jim Hosking, ask one of your cinema buff friends about a little diddy known as THE GREASY STRANGLER, which made a splash at Fantastic Fest in 2016. That film was a sort of sick and perverted voyage into weirdness, all at once funny and disturbing, but absolutely worth a look if for no other reason than its boldness. Hosking’s style is definitely an acquired taste, almost like a modern day equivalent to Ed Wood, or perhaps a higher profile Lloyd Kaufman (of Troma fame). His newest film is AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN, and no matter what you think that title means, you’re probably wrong. It was one of the opening night movies at this year’s Fantastic Fest, and will likely be one of the most talked-about films of the festival.

Lulu Danger (Aubrey Plaza) works at a diner run by her husband Shane Danger (Emile Hirsch), and co-workers Carl (Sky Elobar) and Tyrone (Zach Cherry). When Shane is told he must downsize his staff, he lets Lulu go, telling her it was the only sensible way to handle it. This leads to her sitting at home watching TV and seeing a promo for “An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn” at a local hotel in town, promising a magical experience… this ad clearly has a resonance with Lulu. One night she mentions to Shane that her brother Adjay (Sam Dissanayake) has a lot of money in his cash box, and Shane decides he wants that money, so he robs Adjay in a rather clumsy fashion. Adjay meets Colin (Jemaine Clement), who promises to retrieve the money and if need be teach Shane a lesson. When Colin goes to the Danger home to carry out his mission, things go awry when Lulu suddenly starts telling him what to do, and the two of them take Adjay’s money from Shane and run off together. Her destination is that local hotel that’s hosting “An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn”, where the pair get a room to stay in hiding. We soon meet the oddly-named Beverly Luff Linn (Craig Robinson) and his “lover” Rodney Von Donkensteiger (Matt Berry), a mismatched duo of talent and handler. Mr. Luff Linn doesn’t seem to speak, just groans and grunts like an animal to communicate, while Rodney seems to anticipate his every need. They check into the hotel, soon meeting Lulu and Colin, and it’s clear Lulu and Beverly have an odd but strong connection, though we’re not sure why just yet. Meanwhile, Adjay is threatening Shane daily that he must return the missing money, and Shane is desperate to get both the money and his runaway wife back.

Not much of AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN makes sense at first, though if you stick with it the whole thing does eventually come together in a surprisingly cohesive way. Hosking, who did a Q&A afterward, talked about how he and co-writer David Wike actually penned this screenplay before THE GREASY STRANGLER, and their intention was to make a sort of romantic comedy, though he admitted most who had seen it didn’t quite perceive it as that. While many of the characters are funny and interesting in their own ways, the crux of the story revolves around Lulu and Colin, with Aubrey Plaza and Jemaine Clement finding an odd chemistry as two lost souls who seem stuck together regardless of their wildly different desires. Plaza has always been a bit of a quirky actress, and this role is in many ways perfect for her sensibilities, while Clement also excels at playing weird personalities. Emile Hirsch hams it up as the increasingly frustrated Shane, though I expected him to be in the film a bit more than he was. Craig Robinson is amusing as the film’s namesake, and does shine in the final moments when things finally start to make sense. But it’s Matt Berry who seems to steal the scene time and time again as the overbearing Rodney, a man you will increasingly despise for his actions, but also find fascinating as a character.

This is definitely a weird production, with lots of quirky moments that almost feel (intentionally so) like a poorly-directed play, with characters stiffly delivering lines like they’ve never acted before. It’s part of Hosking’s genius, in that those quirky and awkward moments create a sort of charm that separates this movie from others like it, and make you feel like you’re watching something truly unique. The only downside is that at one hour and 48 minutes, AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN does overstay its welcome a bit, and there’s a few scenes that could have benefit from tighter editing and better pacing. But again, this is not a normal film by any means, feeling more like a cinematic experiment that is just strange enough to work. As previously mentioned, Hosking’s style isn’t for everyone, and there will undoubtedly be folks who watch this and wonder what the filmmakers (and actors) were thinking. But if you’re looking for a different sort of love story, and you like your movies a little on the “odd” side, this might just be a refreshing surprise that puts a smile on your face.

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