For as long as movies have existed, they have been a source of comfort and an escape from reality. If you are looking for a beautiful storyline, with heartfelt content and a sensible yet relatable cast, do not watch “Dicks: The Musical.” If you are looking for movies that leave the viewer with a sense of understanding and feeling improved as a person after watching, do not watch “Dicks: The Musical.” 

“Dicks: The Musical” is A24’s first movie musical, wild at every turn and a fitting addition to the company’s past productions, often featuring strange narratives with disturbing imagery, like in “Midsommar,” and “The Lobster.” There is no moment during this movie that is linear to the next moment. There is no reprieve from the chaotic, jarring shifts from scene to scene, one musical number to the next. The absolute insanity that is “Dicks: The Musical” makes it either one of the greatest movies made because of lack of predictability or one of the worst because of the quality of its content. 

The premise of the movie is that Craig and Trevor (Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson, respectively) are twins separated at birth, who are in a parody-like situation akin to “The Parent Trap.” The twins are both top salesmen of their companies, which one day is put through a merger, with their new boss, Gloria (Megan Thee Stallion). While the two men and their incessant need to outdo each other slowly wears them out, they realize that they are twin brothers. Donning wigs, the twins set out to trick their parents into reuniting.

While Craig and Trevor were the main characters, the greatest additions to the movie was the supporting cast. Megan Thee Stallion did particularly well in this genre — whatever genre this would be classified as. Her character, Gloria, didn’t have much screen time, but she was definitely a refreshing face to the film. One of her most prominent scenes was her song “Out Alpha the Alpha,” where her fellow office members walked on leashes like dogs.

Other notable performances were from Nathan Lane as Harris, the twins’ father, and Megan Mullally, the twins’ mother. Both characters were incredibly absurd, with Harris having two “Sewer Boys,” who look like gremlins with abs. These two creatures, named Backpack and Whisper, were fed by Harris by him chewing up ham and projectile spitting it into their mouths, while Mullally’s character was put in a wheelchair because of a broken back and was convinced she was 94. Bowen Yang played God, who in this storyline was a homosexual narrator of the events unfolding. Yang kept the storyline going, randomly popping in to comment and then quickly move on in his sparkly outfit.

The musical felt as if it were imitating every musical stereotype, from the opening track with a ragtime feel to duets in the form of ballads where both singers are singing about the same situation near each other but does not recognize the other is going through a similar situation. There were two main factors that made the music in this musical stand out: the topics of the songs and who was singing them. The topic of the musical was often woven into the crudeness of lyricism, making consistent references to the singer’s genitalia at any given opportunity. 

Most of the jokes made throughout the musical were not overly amusing, the humor often found in the absurdness of the project altogether. The humor that seemed to land the best were the revealing moments of the next bizarre, unexpected moment to occur, rather than any of the scripted comments. 

Much of the musical numbers in the piece were poorly lip synced, likely on purpose to lower the quality in a “camp” sort of way. Much of the set design was also clearly fake, so as not to immerse the viewer too far and to keep any of the movie from feeling like it could be possible.

Overall, there is no clear way to rate this movie on any sort of scale of stars or points. It being an incredibly original, absurd work makes it hard to compare to others, and while the poor quality of the production is obvious, it is also obvious that it is completely intentional. If graphic absurdity is something a viewer is looking for, “Dicks: The Musical” is the answer.