It’s not the same thing as a fancy in-person world premiere, complete with a red carpet and photographers screaming “over here! over here!” at celebrities, but Shithouse had its digital world premiere at this year’s called South by Southwest, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative. The college romance was written and directed by Cooper Raiff, who also stars as a college freshman who’s having a tough time adjusting to his new life away from home. But then he meets a sophomore played by Dylan Gelula (Xanthippe from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt!). They quickly become friends until things get complicated after — you know where this is going — they sleep together.
The plot may sound familiar, but as IndieWire‘s David Ehrlich writes in his glowing review, “Here’s the catch: It’s good. Like, really good. And more than that, it somehow feels completely singular despite its lo-fi approach and even lower-concept premise.” I would also accept, “Sh*thouse? More like, not a sh*tty movie!” as a review.
Alex (Cooper Raiff) is a lonely, friendless college freshman who is seriously contemplating transferring to a college closer to his mom and sister, to whom he is still extremely tethered. Everything changes one night when Alex takes a leap and attends a party at his campus’ party house “Shithouse,” where he forges a strong connection with his RA, Maggie (Dylan Gelula).
Shithouse opens in theaters and debuts on VOD on October 16.