There is a special place in heaven for those who make movies intended to be consumed while high. Of course, any and all movies experienced with the addition of psychedelics will be enhanced (or diminished depending on the drug and moviegoer), yet when the intention is to portray a drug trip with a comedic salute to the very act of communing with illicit or controlled substances, in order to amplify the absurdity/rationality that only comes when under the influence, one must give thanks to this rare and holy gift. The drug movie is a specific cause and writers/directors Nick Kocher and Brian McElhany leaned all the way in with their resinating, goofy, gross, drug centric story. The characters are all charmingly extreme, the plot is impossible and you can feel the fun that everyone is having as they reflect back at us the horrors of a high gone sideways. For those of us who have endured one, the unspoken recognition of this specific type of sanity (and I mean sanity) is cathartic. College roommates Jack (Gaten Matarazzo) and Montgomery (Sean Giambrone) are flailing socially. They are bullied, romantically challenged, universally hated and nerds in the way that only redeems a person in hindsight. Without giving away too much, they must take a psychoactive substance for individual reasons, and the untoward effects can only be counteracted by the ingestion of pizza. It’s so on the nose, you have to love it. Think Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) meets Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). Of course, if you have never tripped balls, the visuals and overall headspace will ring corny. However, if you’re in possession of recreational substances, the legal ones of course, and looking for a truth adjacent hallucinatory adventure to re-live vicariously through that is indeed corny, Pizza Movie is a silly romp to see yourself in and I for one appreciated its dedication to lived absurdity. Who hasn’t rolled with a friend, switched bodies and watched themself from across the room? That’s real talk if you ask me.

WATCH OR NOT: WATCH