The way the Duplass Brothers attempted to round out their little idea was by introducing four desperate-and more than a little pathetic-twentysomething actors who decide to rent out a cabin in the woods to write and produce a movie starring themselves, since for some crazy reason, nobody wants terrible actors in their films. In the midst of sexual tension and awkward relationships, one of them sees a man in the dark sporting a paper bag. Uninteresting antics ensue.
From the first minute all the way to the credits, the audience has no reason to care about the characters. Overweight Chad (Steve Zissis) pines for the lovely Michelle (Greta Gerwig), who instead tries to get into the pants of alpha male Matt (Ross Partridge), who meanwhile is being chased by pushing-40 Catherine (Elise Muller). That's really all there is to it. They're self-absorbed, superficial nobodies who never change at any point in the story.
The filmmakers tried to achieve spontaneous and natural performances by eschewing rehearsals and lighting set-up changes. Scenes began and ran all the way to the end. How foolish, to think that after hundreds of years of civilization developing the process of rehearsal and performance, two humble brothers could tear all that down to make something profound and innovative.
