The SXSW Film Festival was canceled, but not really canceled. You see, due to COVID-19 (coronavirus) the festival didn’t do public screenings, but it did continue screening movies for its juries and issuing some awards for the films.
The big winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the Narrative Feature Competition for the 2020 edition of the fest is “Shithouse,” from director Cooper Raiff. In a statement, the jury said, “Imbued with the sweet, heart-on-sleeve sensibilities of ‘Before Sunrise,’ triple threat writer/director/star, Cooper Raiff’s earnest portrait (and directorial debut) of a lonely college freshman and the girl he forges a magnetic connection with is refreshing and winningly sincere. The Grand Jury Prize goes to ‘Shithouse.’”
The Special Jury Recognition for Directing prize went to Celine Held and Logan George’s film, “Topside.” As for the Special Jury Recognition for Acting award, Kofi Siriboe and Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing, from the cast of “Really Love,” won that award.
“Shithouse,” which I saw last week, is 22-year-old Raiff’s nano-budget debut. He writes, directs and stars in the film, with a little help from some friends. Raiff plays a dorky mama’s boy college freshman who’s struggling to adapt only to meet a girl (Dylan Gelula) and spend a memorable night together with her. Things do get awkward the morning after; she starts ignoring him, he tries to get her back.
Think “Before Sunrise” meets “Like Crazy” and you’ll get a better idea of how this film plays out.
The film is driven by Raiff’s socially distant acting style and by dialogue which doesn’t feel improvised but, rather, naturally delivered. The film works best when it’s plotless, zeroing in on the tiniest of details in conversation. The last 15 or so minutes, which plays out like a frustrating game of tying up loose plot strands, has Raiff struggling to find a way to avoid the cliches that may come with such a love story. Although ambitious in the way it refuses to adhere to conventional rom-com tropes, the inevitable does happen and familiarity slowly sneaks into his movie. Before then, the film delivers, especially when it focuses on conversation and how love can blossom through the sheer exuberant feeling of conversation.