“Jessie’s Super Normal Regular Average Day” is a surreal stoner odyssey through philosophical absurdity, topless nuns, and punk rock.
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At one time or another, we’re all confronted with the essential mystery of existence, those forces at work behind the scenes that we cannot and should not understand. Some choose to combat this by disavowing existence altogether, believing that our whole universe is just an elaborate simulation. Others turn to spirituality to fill in the gaps, a catch-all explanation for the inexplicable.
Others, of course, turn to art.
Art has long attempted to apply some kind of design to the inherent randomness of existence, the slow burning out of residual energy from the beginning of the universe given the power to question its purpose. This could be the main function of art in a nutshell, an attempt to make sense, or at least use, of the consciousness we’ve been given.
What’s the reason for this semi-stoned philosophizing intro?
Much like art’s attempt to explain the inexplicable, I will attempt to explain the epically baked logic of Jessie’s Super Normal Regular Average Day, a 2019 film by Atlanta-based indie filmmaker Brian K. Williams (whose middle initial reminds us that he is not, in fact, the semi-disgraced newsman) that looks at the inherent absurdity of life through a thick fog of weed smoke.
When faced with the possibility that our entire reality could just be an illusion, maybe hitting the bong is the only sane reaction.
Williams’ frequent muse Ellie Church stars as Jessie, a consummate stoner who wants nothing more than to lounge around her shabby-chic apartment getting high with her roommate and best pal Misty (Allison Maier), watching televised sermons courtesy of the Late Night Scumbag Revival and its preacher, the Reverend Doctor Grinder (Cory “Grinder” Poucher).
She seems set up to do just that, until a knock on her door reveals a snail crawling across the welcome mat. She throws the snail down the stairs, but he quickly returns with a testy note, along with Misty, who quickly attempts to kill her supposed bestie.
Only, this isn’t really Misty…or maybe it is, or maybe it doesn’t really matter anyway.
The “real” Misty appears in the nick of time to save her friend, and reveals her part in a convoluted series of events involving a trio of topless, pink chainsaw-wielding nuns who are looking for Jessie. To top it all off, the good Reverend Doctor gives Jessie her marching orders: “Step one: find God. Step two: kill God. Step three: Party!”
From there, the film follows Jessie on her half-assed quest, one which will force her to continually question if any of what’s happening is real, a question constantly met with the answer “probably not.”
She’s helped along by the Reverend Doctor and an accomplice named Rodger (Jett Bryant, lead singer of Atlanta rock band Bigfoot, who gleefully mugs like a southern-fried, even hairier Jack Black), whose influence leaves her with more questions.
It’s all so galaxy-brained that being as high as Jessie is practically a prerequisite, not that it would help you understand things any better.
Jessie’s Super Normal Regular Average Day feels at times like a fusion of the rambling stoner comedy of The Big Lebowski with the reality-warping pulp of John Dies at the End, shot through with a healthy dose of grindhouse sleaze (in addition to the aforementioned topless nuns, Williams makes sure his camera spends ample time lingering on Church’s body).
It’s all in good fun, and not anything anyone involved wants you to take even remotely seriously. The film eventually loops back on itself, creating a circular puzzle without a solution.
It’s obviously a low-budget affair, but Williams makes the most of his limited resources with some enjoyably inventive practical effects and animated interludes co-created by Where the Dead Go to Die and When Black Birds Fly’s Jimmy ScreamerClauz.
The actors have fun with the material, giving the impression of a tight-knit little creative community willing to do whatever weird stuff is asked of them. The film is also heavily indebted to music, and the soundtrack legitimately rules, chock full of ska, punk, and ska-punk.
One of the featured bands, Dusty Booze and the Baby Haters, even have a kickass gospel-punk album called Late Night Scum Bag Revival, and it’s unclear if that project was created to complement this one, or if it’s the other way around.
Jessie’s Super Normal Regular Average Day asks some very big questions, ones which it has no intention of answering. It’s best not to think about it too much, anyway.
You’re better off doing what its characters do: sit down, load up the bong, and enjoy the ride.
Overall Rating (Out of 5 Butterflies): 3.5
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