Welcome to Kittytown

An acting showcase for co-writers Darren Zimmer and Robert Bryn Mann, Welcome to Kittytown is a demented, diseased, post-apocalyptic buddy comedy. And I’m here to tell y’all I loved every friggin’ minute of it. This low-budget road comedy, ably directed by Doug Luciuk, generated more belly laughs in me than quite a few big-budget options.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, it’s no secret the World Economic Forum is attempting to combat climate change by suggesting ridiculous and onerous policies. Many of its partners in world governments are only too happy to sign off on these policies. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are one of their preferred strategies to end world hunger and reduce carbon emissions. North America went all in on a new GMO crop the WEF was promoting. The result was both grim and gross. “Sludgebutt,” a disease wherein your body defecates everything inside you, even your vital organs, was the effect. Contrary to the beliefs of the WEF and all the World Leaders, they were not immune to “Sludgebutt.”

When Welcome to Kittytown introduces us to the main character Vern (Darren Zimmer), society has fully collapsed. There are next to no people left, and anyone still alive is not to be trusted. Every day, Vern visits the corpse of his friend Anna (Aneurin Sheasby). He then forages for canned vegetables and fruit before retiring to his tent for the night. One day, Vern discovers an interloper in his tent. Ted (a delightfully manic Robert Bryn Mann) is ransacking and gorging on Vern’s winter stash of canned vegetables. After a very tense moment wherein Vern chooses not to shoot Ted, the stranger offers to make it up to Vern by providing him with a share of his canned ham.

While sleeping at Ted’s house, the duo picks up a broadcast from Charlotte (Bernadette Mullen). She’s situated in a place called Kitty Town. She had friends with her, but they vanished after a trip to look for survivors. Lonely, Charlotte has invited Ted and, by association, Vern to come to stay with her. Thus does Vern and Ted’s road trip begin.

“…Charlotte has invited Ted and, by association, Vern to come to stay…”

Welcome to Kittytown is a wondrous buddy comedy through the horrific and desolate realm of post-apocalyptic Saskatchewan. There are fabulous little touches here and there. Vern has an overreliance on his shotgun. Ted’s coffee mug proudly displays the imprint of his daughter’s hand. Charlotte and the strategy of sublimation she has devised while waiting for the return of her friends; mannequins may be involved.

Throughout the zany and sometimes deadly shenanigans, the camera remains crisp and the angles beautifully composed. The natural lighting demonstrates the sheer rugged beauty of the western grasslands of Canada. The picturesque landscape of rural Saskatchewan really embodies the sense of loss and abandonment that can only exist in a realm where everyone has quite literally pooped themselves to death. I tip my hat to Damien Kent for his cinematography; bravo, sir.

Welcome to Kittytown is Luciuk’s first feature and is a banger. His direction is subtle and deft. But, of course, the film really is a showcase for Mann and Zimmer. There exists an organic quality to the acting and mise-en-scene, which clearly did not exist for the deadly GMO that infected 99.9% of humanity with “Sludgebutt.” Every performance has been beautifully polished. This is great work, and I cannot wait to see what Luciuk, Zimmer, and Mann have next for us.

Welcome to Kittytown is quite possibly the best post-apocalyptic dark comedy I have ever seen. While the situation laid out is both dire and, dare I say, excremental, it’s also riotously funny. I encourage anyone who appreciates this sort of deranged comedy to seek it out. You’ll not regret it.

For more information, visit the Welcome to Kittytown official website.