Bennight Brothers is an interesting show, and for those of you unfamiliar with it I’d recommend Chris Hadley’s piece on the creation of it. Essentially, the show was inspired by those with disabilities, psychological and emotional in particular. The main crux of the series is looking at those disorders through a different lens, theorizing that perhaps these people aren’t “crazy” but rather in tune with a more ethereal side of reality.

After watching all three of the current episodes, which was about a half hour in running time, I really had to think about what I just watched. For a lot of viewers Bennight Brothers will be frustrating, it’s very far removed from the expectations of traditional storytelling, be it on the web, film, or any other medium. There is logic missing from a lot of the plot points, our heroes are rather atypical for the genre, it’s visually weird as fuck, and the acting can be all over the place. At the same time I’m kind of attracted to the strangeness, and I’m willing to give it more time and see where it goes. Episode three is significantly better than the first two, on just about all fronts, so the growth is there. I’m interested in seeing if creator Robert Lopez can put it all together in future episodes.

When I call the story “non-standard” or “strange” I really mean in just about every way. The show features a long title sequence right at the start that seems like it would’ve been cool in the 90’s but feels out of place today in a web series (I love the sequence though). The music is straight out of Blade Runner, and when combined with some strange audio jump cuts it makes just about every scene feel a bit uneasy. The first episode opens with the long title sequence then drops you right in to the middle of the story, no explanation, no backstory, no set up. It’s a giant WTF!? There are guys with white eyes, everything looks weird, there is an invisible monster, I had to double check to make sure I was watching episode one. Finally in episode three we follow along a new character, a self-described witch, whose story gives us a real explanation for what’s going on.

While the backstory behind the production gave me a heads up as to the premise of the series, when I began actually watching it there was something of a disconnect, or a miscommunication between those ideas I understood going in and the ideas being presented in the show. This is specifically due to the non-standard storytelling style and structure. Ultimately these ideas all exist in the world for a reason, and as I said during the twitter interview, the show reminds me a bit of a David Lynch film. It’s odd, it’s different, it’s frustrating, but it has purpose. When the audience member puts themselves into the shoes of some of these characters, or into the shoes of someone with a psychological disorder, there is reason to be found in the chaos. While these things are going to turn off a lot of viewers they are also the things that make Bennight Brothers a unique experience.

You can find the Bennight Brothers at their official site http://bennightbrothers.com