Roommates is a coming-of-age comedy, which follows a shy and lonely Devon Weisz (Sadie Sandler), who seeks to make her life in college less lonely than her life in school. When she meets the well-meaning and free-spirited Celeste Durand (Chloe East), at her college orientation, they become fast friends and roommates, which changes the course of Devon’s life. Director Chandler Levack sets himself up with the challenge of having to make a film with one of the most familiar settings in a familiar genre, but makes an entertaining film without too much airs, with some parts that don’t work.
Director: Chandler Levack
Cast: Sadie Sandler, Chloe East, Sarah Sherman, Natasha Lyonne
Streamer: Netflix
The problem with a familiar setting and genre is that it can be limiting, but the good thing about it is that it can also be relatable. Devon is your quintessential introvert. In her path to becoming an extrovert, she makes a lot of mistakes. She doubts her friends, reads social cues incorrectly and even sets fires during confrontations. But Jimmy Fowlie and Ceara Jane O’Sullivan’s writing frames those confrontations in a way that you are able to attribute to the actions of college going teenagers who don’t know better. While that can seem like a plotline that has been dug up after being used endlessly in a lot of films, Fowlie and O'Sullivan bring it into the modern day.
Roommates is entirely a retelling of Devon and Celeste’s story by Robyn Schilling (Sarah Sherman), who studied with the pair, and is currently a Dean who tries to broker peace between two roommates. While the film establishes that the only reason that Devon and Celeste’s story is recounted is for Robyn to resolve a fight, both storylines don’t have an effect on each other, and simply exist as two separate films. There is a comedic moments where a girl has to constantly reassure her insecure boyfriend that she is not involved with other boys. You are left to wonder if those scenes are to point out the woes of a girl having to deal with such a boyfriend, or are they used to establish a scene, or are they just simple jokes. Incomplete moments like these break the flow of the film.
The cast of Roommates play their parts to perfection. Sandler is able to express the evolution of a quiet and naïve girl to an outspoken and street smart woman, both in big and small moments. Meanwhile, East carries the unpredictability of a manipulative sociopath, masquerading as a nice person, with finesse. While it is very easy to box off Roommates as a second screen content or just another OTT film, in its tight runtime it is able to provide just enough levity that reminds you of your matinee reruns of the television era.