Shithouse (2020)

Oh yeah. Like a bolt of lightning. My exact kind of movie, I'm so happy I watched it. Really feel like this one went into the instant favorite, will definitely rewatch and show to everyone part of my brain.

Cooper Raiff has really got the stuff. There's a class of movie and filmmakers I like that somehow capture the real world in a way that makes it feel more real. Not like an idealizedz impossible movie world but like the actual world that we live in. Like everything that happens is realistic and just extreme enough to make a compelling plot but not enough to make it unbelievable. They use cinematography and even coloring to heighten this illusion along with other tricks I can't fully place my finger on. Script? Acting style?

The other movies that come to mind automatically are Aftersun and Past Lives. Two favorites from the past few years that left me with the same feeling of - I'm watching a movie but I'm also watching life, expanded. Joachim Trier is also the master of crafting movies with that magic. Normal People too.

I didn't get the college experience I probably wanted. And I felt that lack here. The UPS and downs and parties and awkward conversations and hookups and breakups and fights and weird roomates. It's all so real and lived in and Cooper gave me the feeling that I had had those experiences myself. He makes everything so personal and universal.
He knows how to craft layered stories and is a master at playing the exact emotional notes he wants his audience to feel.

It really felt like there were only 5 scenes in this movie and they were all awesome and essential. The night the main characters meet really felt like Gen Z college Before Sunrise. It was awesome.

So happy I finally came around to this movie.