Milo

Narrative Spotlight, World Premiere
D: Jacob Vaughan; with Ken Marino, Gillian Jacobs, Peter Stormare, Stephen Root

Duncan Hayslip (Marino) has an irritable bowel – and these days, who doesn’t? His doctor’s advice is to remove the stress from his life, but that’s easier said than done. Work is a nightmare, where his boss (Patrick Warburton) is vying for what appears to be the Bill Lumbergh Smarmy Boss of the Year Award, and at home it’s clear his wife (Gillian Jacobs) is ready to start that family he’s reluctant to begin. Toss in some long-simmering absent-daddy issues and some present-day mommy-humiliation issues, and Duncan’s cork is about ready to pop as the movie opens. But when it finally occurs, the explosion yields a surprising little anger monster that bursts forth from his anus along with massive gobs of fecal matter. With the help of his therapist, Duncan names the murderous little guy Milo. This horror comedy is in equal measures grossly stomach-churning and sweetly amusing, a line the filmmakers tread with deft skill.

Friday, March 15, 9:15pm, Topfer

This article appears in March 15 • 2013.

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.