Yoga Hosers (2016): When Absurdism Fails

Yoga Hosers (2016) is a horror “comedy” directed and written by Kevin Smith. The film stars Harley Quinn Smith, Lily-Rose Depp and Johnny Depp. The film is centered on two Canadian convenience store clerks that are attacked by mini nazis made of bratwursts. It’s a purposely absurd concept that is meant to be charmingly amusing. However it’s a comedy that fails on almost every level. Which is a shame as it comes from a director that once had a very promising career in front of him.

Kevin Smith has always been a divisive director. Most of his films come down to dialogue and it can be an acquired taste. But there is a reason his early films such as Clerks (1994), Dogma (1999), and Chasing Amy (1997) were popular and achieved a decent amount of success for independent films. There was also a lot of passion put into his films as each of his films felt like personal stories with intimate themes. While you can criticize some of the on-the-nose dialogue and annoying characters it’s undeniable that there was value in his original few films. Personally, I really like Clerks and Dogma. I found Dogma to be particularly entertaining as a catholic. I watched it at a time when I was having questions about the faith and Dogma addressed a lot of the humorous contradictions of the church while still having some respect for it.

However, Smith’s recent films are almost unrecognizable to the one’s he started out in. Cop Out (2010), Red State (2011) and Tusk (2014) have all been panned critically and have failed at the box office. Everything charming and unique about his previous films were thrown out the window and replaced with mean spirited and self indulgent humor along with lame characters. Smith described several of his films as “not made for critics” but many of them appear as if they are not made for anyone but himself. While many directors and writers

Yoga Hosers is by far the worst of the bunch. The focuses on the two convenience store clerks both named Colleen. These characters are the center of the film yet they lack character arcs and aren’t as charming as they need to be. They have chemistry together as the actresses are friends in real life, but the are given lackluster dialogue which is mainly meant to mock the millennial generation. Johnny Depp reprises his role from Tusk as Guy Lapointe a French Canadian detective. It’s another role were Depp plays an over the top character with a silly voice. Every once in awhile he can have a funny moment but he doesn’t add much to the film.

The biggest problem with the film is that the humor and tone don’t work. The setup to the film could be funny. But it isn’t handled correctly. The characters of the Colleens aren’t likable so when the Bratwurst nazis attack it is neither frightening or funny. It’s frustratingly absurd. The odd and strange can be very funny, if it is done the right way. The Big Lebowski (1998), Burn After Reading (2008), and many other Coen Brothers movies are filled with strange, absurd humor that breaks conventions and flaunts its strangeness. The aspect that differentiates these films from Yoga Hosers it’s executed the right way visual gags are set up and are unexpectedly paid off.

Successful absurd films also have a set perspective on reality. There needs to be a character that is aware of the absurdity: a straight man.There needs to be a relatable character that the audience can experience the absurdity with. This film lacks that character. Every character in Yoga Hosers is over the top or a Canadian stereotype.

Another problem is the film’s message. The main villain of the film is a Canadian Nazi who, having frozen himself during WWII returns seeking revenge. He is also given an impromptu backstory, revealing that he was a German artist who was driven to Nazism because critics destroyed his drive to create art. His evil plan is to kill all the art critics in Canada using his latest artistic creation. There is a hint of satire in this character as he bemoans the angry viewpoints of critics. This can be interpreted as possibly mocking the culture of antagonism toward critiques but can also be portrayed as bashing critical analysis.

Overall the film is just frustrating. Especially because there were talented people involved. At least it’s a sort of cautionary tale for indie directors. Just because you’re working “outside of the system” doesn’t mean you can’t lose your integrity. 2/10.