What happens when the power shuts down on Halloween night and someone at your neighborhood dive bar turns up dead? In Tessa Greenberg’s Regulars, a tight-knit crew of misfits finds out the hard way that the bar’s regulars may not be as regular as they thought.
Last year on Halloween, Ruth’s (Ruth Solorzano) grandmother passed away after years of running her quaint dive bar in Brooklyn. A year later, Ruth struggles to keep her grandmother’s dream alive, and supporting her along the way are her friends: lead bartender Ashley (Liza Treyger), young maintenance man Hermando (Jason Genao), and goofy bartender Brian (Jack Henry Robbins), who’s dating fellow businesswoman Brooke (Molly Lloyd). Brooke runs her father’s bodega next door and loved Ruth’s grandmother.
Of course, a few regulars show up: Fred (Jose Febus), the group’s “Norm,” and the couple Dante (Guyviaud Joseph) and Naomi (Joyelle Nicole Johnson). Naomi is in the middle of her city council campaign. Unbeknownst to the group, Ruth is behind on her bills and is close to losing the bar. Then there is the arrival of Ruth’s close friend, El (Han Van Sciver), who we find out had some kind of relationship with Ashley.
Just as the Halloween party heats up, a lightning storm brews, and with one grand strike, the power goes out in Brooklyn. While Brian ushers the patrons out of the bar, the crew attempts to salvage the night. When Brian heads down to the basement, he discovers Ashley lying dead on the ground. With the power down and cell service offline, the gang tries to figure out what happened to Ashley. Was this an accident…or murder?
“Unbeknownst to the group, Ruth is behind on her bills and is close to losing the bar.”
As I watch Regulars, I can’t help but think this might be an episode of a queer version of Friends with a mystery to solve à la Scooby-Doo. First, there is the murder of Ashley. What seemed like a friendly work setting soon reveals that Ashley had a tendency to rub people the wrong way. Practically everyone had a motive to off her.
To complicate matters, what should have been an uplifting, family-like safe zone quickly becomes a night of revealed secrets, particularly El and Ashley’s former relationship and Dante and Naomi’s betrayal. Compounding the stress is Ruth’s fear that she can’t save the bar before it succumbs to the inevitable scourge of gentrification.
Tessa Greenberg’s directorial debut, Regulars, has a charm. In the press notes, she boasts a woman-led production with a diverse, queer-inclusive ensemble. This is one of those bars that makes you feel at home and part of the family. To me, that matters less than the feeling of family and friendship I got from what was on camera and behind the scenes. Warm, positive feelings may not be exactly what you want from a Halloween murder mystery, but ultimately the film is about friendship.
Think of Tessa Greenberg’s Regulars more as a queer episode of Friends with a Mystery Machine twist than a spooky Halloween thriller. But if you’re up for a night with a funny group of friends who feel like family, you’ll get laughs and warm, fuzzy feelings in the end instead of scares.
For screening information, visit the Regulars official website.
"…a queer version of Friends with a mystery to solve à la Scooby-Doo."
