Popular ‘SNL’ Trio Please Don’t Destroy’s Comedy Film is a Streaming Hit

An underrated and forgotten improv comedy film from 2023 is finding new life on streaming as Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain is a hit on Peacock. The film was directed by Saturday Night Live veteran Paul Briganti, produced by Judd Apatow, and starred the SNL sketch-comedic group known as Please Don’t Destroy, actors and writers Martin Herily, John Higgins, and Ben Marshall. It currently sits at number nine on Peacock’s Top 10 streaming chart.

Their first film, Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain is essentially a feature-length version of the trio’s comedic skits. The story follows three childhood friends who try to come back together to rekindle their friendship by trying to find a treasure that they had been hunting for as children.

The official plot reads:

In PLEASE DON’T DESTROY: THE TREASURE OF FOGGY MOUNTAIN, John Goodman narrates the adventure of Ben, Martin, and John, three childhood friends turned deadbeat co-workers, who fend off hairless bears, desperate park rangers (Meg Stalter and X Mayo) and a hypocritical cult leader (Bowen Yang) in the hopes of finding a priceless treasure, only to discover that finding the treasure is the easiest part of their journey.

A couple of big stars also appear in the film, including Conan O’Brien and Goodman, along with Stranger Thing’s Gaten Matarazzo as himself.

The film originally debuted on Peacock back on Nov. 17, 2023 and currently sits at an abysmal 42% by critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience rating is a sizzling 90%. On IMDb, it has a 6 / 10 average rating. Brian Tallerico gave the film 2.5 / 4 stars and wrote that “there’s a hysterical short film in here—something longer than their SNL sketches to be sure, but not quite feature-length.”

MovieWeb’s Olly Dyche enjoyed the film, writing:

“[The film] is a charming, rip-roaring comedy about three friends seeking to rekindle their friendship. The chemistry between the cast and their excellent comedic timing makes each anecdote or frivolous line of dialogue punchy and effective… The pacing here is quick, and the jokes come fast, making ‘The Treasure of Foggy Mountain’ easily one of the best comedies of the year.”

Who is Please Don’t Destroy?

Please Don’t Destroy was started in 2017 by friends Herily, Higgins, and Marshall while attending school at NYU. The name comes from an act called Please Don’t Destroy My Farm. They have performed their skits around the country and joined the New York Comedy Festival in 2018.

Related

Exclusive: Director Paul Briganti Discusses SNL and His Comedy with Please Don’t Destroy

Director Paul Briganti recently sat down with MovieWeb to discuss his new comedy, Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain.

However, Please Don’t Destroy’s comedy skits and videos on TikTok and Twitter went super viral during Covid, and by the fall of 2021, they were hired as writers for SNL’s 47th season. Their hard seltzer skit in October 2021 was such a viral hit, they soon found themselves creating videos every week for SNL. Another huge success was the Please Don’t Destroy: Three Sad Virgins rap video with Pete Davidson and Taylor Swift.

Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain is currently streaming on Peacock.

Release Date

November 17, 2023

Director

Paul Briganti

Runtime

92 minutes

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