The new Netflix comedy, Roommates, had a lot of possibilities to offer viewers a good time, but it doesn’t deliver too much in terms of enlightening, feel-good material. Director Chandler Levack has two appealing actresses at the center of the film: Sadie Sandler and Chloe East. However, they can’t manage to overcome the movie’s mean-spirited tendencies.
Sandler plays Devon, an intelligent young woman who didn’t make any friends in high school. Devon hopes that changes for her in college. Things look hopeful for Devon when she meets a ray of sunshine named Celeste (East), who ends up becoming Devon’s new roommate.
Movies about bad roommates have existed before, but never quite as disappointing as this one turns out to be. This film is full of party scenes, but short on sensitivity. This new picture spins its tale by offering a narrator, Dr. Schilling (Sarah Sherman), telling the story of Devon and Celeste to two girl student roommates who recently had a fight with each other.
Celeste is the life of the party, while Devon can be a bit awkward at times. They both end up liking the same guy, Michael (Billy Bryk), and it’s easy to guess who will ultimately get his affections. A better movie would have made it harder to figure out who would ultimately get to kiss Michael.
Aidan Langford plays Alex, Devon’s brother. Langford has a lot of personality, and his scenes with Sandler are some of the only ones that don’t feel over-the-top and cruel. Langford helps the movie save face whenever he appears on-screen.
Chloe East came on to the scene with a role in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans. She was everything one looks for in a new actress in that movie. She had personality, humor, and pizazz in Spielberg’s gem and followed that up with a great dramatic role in Heretic.
East is decent in Roommates, but can’t overcome the fact that her character isn’t particularly well-written. Sandler only fares slightly better in a role that is just as stereotypical as East’s. Sandler plays the goody-two-shoes pushed past the point of no return in a mediocre fashion.
This film is peppered with plenty of cameos by big stars. Natasha Lyonne, Carol Kane, Janeane Garofalo, Steve Buscemi, and Megan Thee Stallion all pop up over the course of the film. Sadly, they don’t add too much to its quality.
There is a point in Roommates where one would think the filmmakers would add heart to the proceedings, but no such luck. Instead, a fire ensues that burns a place on campus down and, at the same time, destroys any hope of the movie being salvaged as well.
Chloe East plays her part effectively as it was written. It’s not East’s fault that the movie doesn’t properly deal with her character’s unfortunate situation. Instead of her learning a genuine lesson at the end of the movie, she goes to work for Staples.
Sadie Sandler also has an appealing personality, but is not very believable in the role of an aspiring architect. This film gets lost in one too many party sequences. One also wishes Sandler’s role had more depth in the grand scheme of things.
Roommates does have a funny scene or two every now and then, but these sections only work in spurts. Perhaps, the most humorous moments in the film arrive when Sandler’s Devon makes a presentation with dolls and small furniture on how to separate roommates from each other from an architectural standpoint.
A good movie would have given both roommates in the film redeeming values and made them stick together as friends despite their flaws. This film just pits them against one another.
East and Sandler have their moments in Roommates. Netflix movies like this one benefit greatly from actresses with the talents these two stars possess. It’s the lackluster script that is ultimately the movie’s biggest problem.
Who wants to see a comedy movie where best friends end up hating one another? There’s enough of that type of disappointment in real life.
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Thomas Duffy
Thomas Duffy is a Critics Choice member who has written film reviews for most of his life, starting at age 11 when he crafted his first full length movie critique on the film, "Roxanne," a Cyrano story featuring Steve Martin. As a result of that review and other movie obsessive writing, Thomas was awarded a creative writing award in sixth grade. Thomas is the proud author of nine books, including two highly acclaimed novels, "To Never Know" and "Social Work." Thomas can be found on X (formerly known as Twitter) or at a New York City movie theater watching the latest hit or independent movie. You can also run into him at Tribeca or at the New York Film Festival.