There’s an abundance of shockingly imprudent behavior to laugh and cringe at in the easygoing queer comedy Rent Free. But the second feature from writer-director Fernando Andrés, co-written by Tyler Rugh, should garner more outright gasps for the graphics regularly posted onscreen listing the specs and rent of each respective dwelling that appears in the story.
Starting with a two-bedroom, two-bath Brooklyn apartment that rents for $ 8,000 a month, the graphics drive home the adage that perennial New York political candidate Jimmy McMillan has been stressing for decades: the rent is too damn high!
It’s true everywhere, from Brooklyn, New York to Austin, Texas, where broke best friends Ben (Jacob Roberts), who’s gay, and Jordan (David Treviño), who’s straight-ish, recently graduated college. We meet the duo in that swell Brooklyn setup, Ben’s new home in the city, rooming with fellow Austin transplants Lindsay (Annabel O’Hagan) and Rob (Jeff Kardesch).
That is, until Ben’s bad judgment gets him kicked out before his bags are even unpacked. So it’s back to Austin with Jordan, to the $2,000-a-month apartment Jordan shares with girlfriend Anna (Molly Edelman). Until that also falls through, and both Jordan and Ben need to find a new place to live.
What ensues is a steady diet of comic humiliation as they both confront an economy that’s rough all over, from housing to the job market. The only ones in their circle not struggling are those who were born rich, like Lindsay, or are raking in a whopping salary in tech, like their high school bud Neil (Neal Mulani), who lives a luxe life with hot househusband Gio (Carson Barwinkel) in their $3,750-a-month two-bedroom.
Neil laughs off the spirit-deadening effects of his job monitoring content at Facebook with the same nonchalant air that the movie approaches satire, not skewering its targets but singeing with subtle burns. Case in point: Jordan, at Neil and Gio’s karaoke party, tries to bum a cigarette off a group of fit gays but gets nowhere. Seconds later, he’s with every lesbian at the party smoking outside.
Populated by amusing scene stealers like Neil, the movie lands numerous funny jabs at queer culture, Austin, Brooklyn, artists, slackers, jocks, rich folks, broke folks, and, mostly, the Venmo, freelance, side-hustle economy. While Ben takes a job doing deliveries for an app called Munchr, Jordan has his well-meaning mom, Vita (Aileen Corpos), trying to coax him into a multi-level marketing business selling crystals.
High on Molly, Ben and Jordan come up with the money-saving plan hinted in the title, to live rent-free for one year by surfing from one friend or relative’s place to another. “It’ll be a social experiment,” Ben declares hopefully. More than a plan or experiment, it’s a pact between friends who are having a harder time growing up and letting go than either might like to admit.
Deploying a lowkey straight man-funny man dynamic, Treviño and Roberts do well delineating Jordan and Ben’s differences, while making their friendship the backbone of the movie. We see how they complement each other. Ben might be the more reckless of the two, but he also seems to be more willing to work hard. Jordan might be the more sensible, but he’s also equally susceptible to temptation.
Lust gets these guys in trouble more than once, and keeps the film buzzing with a casual sexiness to accompany the social commentary and chuckle-worthy comedy about the constant hustle to be housed. In the Oscar-winning words of Three 6 Mafia, “It’s hard out here for a pimp/When he’s tryin’ to get this money for the rent.” Never forget.
Rent Free (★★★☆☆) is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via digital and VOD on various platforms.
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