ROOMMATES Review

Luna (Storm Reid) and Auguste (Ivy Wolk) are freshman college roommates. What started as a joyous friendship has quickly gone sideways.

How sideways? Auguste is currently throwing every last one of Luna's belongings out of their dorm window. Clothes. Trash. Even the air fryer. When that air fryer comes crashing down and takes out a food delivery robot, Dr. Schilling (Sarah Sherman) happens to be walking by. She puts an end to things immediately and calls both girls into her office.

Dr. Schilling has seen this before. So she's going to tell them about Devon and Celeste, and hope that Luna and Auguste find a way to remain roommates. More importantly, friends.

So. Devon and Celeste.

Devon (Sadie Sandler) has always been on the outside looking in. Case in point: at her high school graduation, she isn't asked to be in the photos with her friends. She's asked to take them.

What Devon does have is her family. Mom (Natasha Lyonne), Dad (Nick Kroll), and brother Alex (Aidan Langford) are her biggest supporters, and honestly, Alex might be her best friend.

At freshman orientation, held at an adventure camp, Devon mostly keeps to herself. When the scavenger hunt rolls around and everyone starts pairing off, Devon resigns herself to partnering with a facilitator. Then, at the last second, Celeste (Chloe East) sits down across from her.

Celeste comes across as the type who has better options, so the invitation catches Devon off guard. But by the end of the day, the two have bonded enough that Devon pops the question: roommates? It's not a hard sell once Celeste hears about the private bathroom.

From there, the friendship takes off. Senior parties. Nights out. A spring break trip to Florida on the books. Devon and Celeste are inseparable.

So a Thanksgiving with Devon's family should be no big deal.

Right?

This is a Happy Madison production, and it feels like one. Make of that what you will.

For me, that's a good thing. You know what you're getting. A warm, loose, good-natured hang that isn't pretending to be anything else. Roommates fits that mold comfortably, and it never once feels like it's straining to get there.

Sadie Sandler is the easy standout. There's a naturalness to her that makes Devon hard not to root for. She's funny without forcing it, and when the film needs her to be sincere, she pulls that off too. Her last name was always going to be part of the conversation, but she earns her spot here. By the time the Thanksgiving scenes roll around and things get a little messier emotionally, I was fully in her corner.

It's a comedy that isn't afraid to slow down when it needs to, and the dramatic beats land because the film has already earned your goodwill by then.

The film is light on its feet throughout. The college setting works. The friendship between Devon and Celeste clicks faster than you'd expect, which matters a lot given how much of the runtime depends on you actually buying into it. I bought into it pretty quickly.

Natasha Lyonne and Nick Kroll as Devon's parents is exactly the kind of casting a Happy Madison production just casually drops in like it's nothing, and both are great. The dynamic between Devon and her brother Alex gives the film a little extra warmth that pays off when it counts.

Sure, this might be a direct-to-streaming Netflix film, but that doesn't mean there's not fun to be had. Roommates is warm, funny, and over before it ever wears out its welcome.

That works for me.

🍿 SCORE = 75/100