Roommates (2026)
Directed by: Chandler Levack
Premise: Two very different college freshman (Sadie Sandler and Chloe East) share a dorm room. They become fast friends but their differences gradually make their living situation untenable.
What Works: Roommates is primarily the story of Devon, a good hearted but socially awkward college freshman who graduated from high school with no friends and is anxious about finding a social network in college. Things initially seem to be going well when Devon befriends and rooms with Celeste whose carefree and confident manner plugs Devon into the college social scene. For anyone who has had a roommate, this film credibly dramatizes the way domestic tensions escalate. Celeste takes advantage of Devon in small ways that gradually add up and Devon refuses to confront Celeste about what’s bothering her. The film is well cast especially Sadie Sandler as Devon and Chloe East as Celeste. Sandler conveys Devon’s awkwardness in a way that is endearing and East projects a wild unpredictability and a sense of danger. Roommates is set up to follow the typical friendship story in which the characters come together, breakup, and reconcile. The filmmakers take this narrative in a different direction. Devon discovers that Celeste was not the person she presented herself to be but Celeste isn’t just a villain. The filmmakers extend her enough empathy that we can see Celeste in a somewhat sympathetic light. That empathy is one of the film’s better features. Roommates is funny and has some of the standard Hollywood college comedy elements but the emotional parts of the film get to something real. The dread of loneliness and isolation is palpable.
What Doesn’t: The tone of Roommates is inconsistent. The movie plays like The Rules of Attraction siphoned through a sitcom filter. Some parts of the movie are quite silly in ways that don’t quite match the emotional moments. At other points, Roommates is meanspirited especially when Devon and Celeste’s conflict boils over. The filmmakers can’t quite assimilate all the different tones. Roommates is a Happy Madison production made for Netflix and it has an unappealing visual style. It’s slick in a way that feels artificial. Roommates includes a wraparound storytelling device in which a college staffer (Sarah Sherman) tells Devon and Celeste’s story to a pair of contemporary college students (Storm Reid and Ivy Wolk) who are having roommate problems. Not much comes of the frame narrative. The contemporary students don’t really learn anything and the framing device doesn’t add perspective.
Disc extras: Available on Netflix.
Bottom Line: Roommates is uneven but its better parts outweigh the lesser moments. The film’s potential to be meaner and more subversive is handicapped by the Happy Madison/Netflix house style but the story goes in some interesting directions and the central performances are very good.
Episode: #1096 (April 26, 2026)