Plot

An impressionistic look at life on the road with a comedy band in pursuit of an elusive dream.

"Trainwreck to Narnia" is an impressionistic look at life on the road with a comedy band in pursuit of an elusive dream. Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits are the hardest working band you may have never heard of. With a year-round tour schedule, billowing debts and the hope of one day being able to survive on their music, their story personifies the archetypal struggle of broke artists everywhere. It all began in the meth-infested suburbs north of the Bay Area, where the band's founders, Dan and Corbett, grew up. The cluster of towns, which are really a subdivided strip mall, spawned the likes of Primus, Metallica and Green Day, making it the per capita leader of two modern American hallmarks: fast food and rock n' roll. Then the'90s happened. As Seattle was churning out grunge music, California unleashed a marketable form of punk rock that set big labels on the prowl. The music industry swooped down on the Bay Area, and Dan and Corbett watched as many of their peers exploded into mass popularity. Bobby Joe Ebola--which built a cult underground following around its ability to satirize horrible things--was overlooked. Now, 18 years later, the stakes are higher than ever before. Even as their music inspires a new generation of fans, the expenses and emotional wear of keeping this project off the ground has taken its toll. Will their hard work pay off? Or will their personal sacrifices prove too much to overcome? Both a documentary and a musical, "Trainwreck to Narnia" blurs the lines between the stage and daily life, crafting scenes of magical realism where nothing is ever quite as it seems. The film follows Dan and Corbett as they leave on a West Coast tour. Along the way they meet strange characters, crash on anyone's floor who will let them, and inspire at least one middle-aged man at a small town dive bar to suddenly realize the meaning of life. Throughout the tour, their story continues to unfold. The two reveal that they will soon achieve a personal milestone--their debut performance at The Troubadour, a legendary Los Angeles venue where they have fantasized of playing since first forming the band. Corbett describes the stage there as a living monument to the history of rock music. This is a pinnacle moment that lays bare their dual skepticism of, and yearning for wider success. The camera opens on Los Angeles from behind the Hollywood sign, exposing the two-dimensional facade that holds the cultural icon upright, the expansive city peaks through an ocean of smog in the valley below. It's a vastly different world, one that is both monstrous and full of opportunity.—Dylan Bergeson