World's Greatest Dad

World’s Greatest Dad is a jet black comedy in a similar tradition as Jawbreaker, Heathers and Chumscrubber, when tragedy becomes it’s own animal that cannot be tamed. Lance is a high school poetry teacher , single father and struggling writer. Lance’s son Kyle is a nightmare walking to say the least. Foul mouthed to everyone he comes in contact with and an obsessive masturbator that prefers auto erotic asphyxia as his position of choice. In the films opening Lance walks in on Kyle strangling himself and thinks the worst only to be cursed out by his son for interrupting his orgasm. Kyle goes to the school where Lance teaches and is a problem child, who is constantly on academic probation and causing problems in the halls. This kid is so vile, that when the jocks beat on him, you actually cheer for the jocks! Kyle’s only friend is a drippy nerd named Andrew, whom has problems of his own at home, so he gladly tolerates Kyle’s abuse so he doesn’t have to go home and deal with his own problems.


Lance is having a secret affair with the art teacher Claire, who is a sun shiny, cute perky ray of sunshine that is crazy about him. Claire is supportive and funny, and what Lance looks forward to. One day in the teacher’s lounge a fellow teacher and handsome African- American man Mike reveals that he has had an article published in the New Yorker magazine. Lance is quietly jealous of this achievement, and even more bothered that it’s Mike’s first submission to the magazine. Claire is gushing over Mike’s achievement much to the dismay of Lance. Claire starts a friendship with Mike that makes Lance uneasy; but trying to be the ‘good secret boyfriend’ doesn’t make waves about it, and tries to trust her, even though every time he turns around she is breaking dates with him. One night they plan to go out and bring his son Kyle to dinner with them. After dinner he drops his son at home, and then drops Claire at her house. When he returns home Kyle has accidently strangled himself while masturbating. Lance panics and covers his son’s embarrassing death by faking a suicide note and hanging him in the closet. This is when things turn strange.

Naturally , there is sympathy from his coworkers and the students because of his son’s death. However what Lance hadn’t planned on was the suicide letter to be released by the police and printed in the school paper. The note made Kyle into something he absolutely wasn’t; a thoughtful, deep, intellectual. The school becomes enchanted by this person they never new. Maybe even a little obsessed. Lance is seduced by the attention he is getting and invents a ‘journal’ supposedly written by his son, which eventually is printed and distributed to the student body as a cautionary tale and comfort. Everyone has this idealized version of Kyle that they carry with them, and Lance is elevated to nearly sainthood. The lie of Kyle spins out of control, and the more Lance lies, the more he benefits. You will have to watch and see if he breaks or takes the accolades and runs. Great story telling. Twisted brilliance.