Comedy troupe Broken Lizard gets medieval in a raunchy and hilarious take on The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Quasi has the hapless and deformed lovable loser caught in a dire predicament. The ruthless King of France celebrates his latest marriage to an English bride, which gives him the perfect opportunity to assassinate the despised Pope. Quasi becomes the expendable tool for the job. The situation is further complicated when the Pope demands Quasi kill the hated monarch. The film slyly skewers classism, sexism, and religion with clever dialogue. It also has a lot of heart as Quasi finds a surprising love interest and ally.
Hunchbacked Quasi (Steve Lemme) lumbers towards the castle for his job as a torturer. He's ridiculed and pelted with poo as usual. Duchamp (Kevin Heffernan), Quasi's hut mate, wonders if the taunting gets old. They arrive at the torture chamber to further bullying. Quasi ignores the mean remarks as he preps his prized achievement. The newly designed stretching rack has gotten universal praise. A local cook, Michel (Erik Stolhanske), eagerly awaits his turn as a test subject.
King Guy's Dastardly Plan
The peasants gather excitedly in the courtyard. King Guy (Jay Chandrasekhar) will draw the winning lottery ticket. The fantastic prize offers dinner and an audience with the reigning couple. The caring and intelligent Queen Catherine (Adrianne Palicki) has bold ideas to alleviate the people's suffering. She's ignored by the King and his advisors as a foolish woman, who wants her to eave the important business to capable men and mind her so-called inferior station.
Duchamp purchases several tickets. Quasi couldn't care less. Nothing good has ever happened to him. Duchamp, who refuses to be called Quasi's best friend, takes pity and gives him one of the tickets.They're absolutely shocked when Quasi wins the lottery. At the dinner, Quasi slurps down oysters with joy. He impresses the Queen with wit and charm. She overhears the King's dastardly plan to murder the Pope (Paul Soter). Poor Quasi will be executed after he commits the crime. She resolves to help the hunchback escape certain death.
The downtrodden Quasi holds his head high under merciless conditions. He's never angry or bitter but yearns to be loved like everyone else. The film succeeds because you root for his character. Castigating someone over a birth defect is deplorable behavior that shouldn't be tolerated. Broken Lizard shows the folly of meanness with sharp humor. Those who mock Quasi are rightly depicted as jerks.
Sharp Humor
Organized religion gets a thoughtful ribbing. The Pope, just like the King, is a selfish, power hungry despot who uses his title for nefarious reasons. He frightens the uneducated poor to burn in the depths of hell if they don't do his bidding. This fear of eternal damnation keeps the commoners in check. Their lives suck badly, so the alternative is unimaginable. This is all done in a calculated manner to not offend the truly righteous. The Pope and King are clearly bad dudes. Their fates in a fantastic climax is applause worthy.
Don't worry, Broken Lizard fans. It's not all sharp satire and wicked double entendres. Quasi is loaded with dirty humor and juvenile sight gags that will have you laughing out loud. A hook-up scene on the torture rack highlights zany shenanigans, and the romance between Quasi and the Queen is an absolute riot.
Quasi, streaming exclusively on Hulu, is a production of Searchlight Pictures and Broken Lizard.