A young wannabe scriptwriter, struggling to get attention for his first movie pitch, comes up with a high-risk plan to bypass the industry gatekeepers – befriending the wayward, slacker son of a mogul film producer. But would-be filmmaker Dev (Matthew Sato) has not anticipated how wild and volatile his bromance with nepo baby Trip Lefkowitz (Will Sennett) will become.
While promotion for Don’t Trip, the debut feature of writer-director Alex Kugelman, has leaned into its horror elements, the indie Hollywood satire’s main selling point is its scathing critique of the culture of the film industry (and of those determined to become part of it). Kugelman’s script manages to surface new, and frequently witty, insights into a much-mined theme.
He’s also mindful of the need not to frame Dev as some kind of heroic indie auteur battling for artistic recognition, but as more like a grifter animated by a sense of entitlement. Sato does well to not make Dev thoroughly unlikeable, but as the bond between him and Trip develops through a whole series of absurd adventures, Don’t Trip is carried by Sennett’s unpredictable and explosive performance as the unhinged ‘party dude’ – a drifter living on Daddy’s generous allowance, and desperately looking to fill his empty life with some meaning.
There’s plenty of humour, and no little warmth, in what’s a promising calling-card for Kugelman, although the violent confrontation in the final act feels like the wrong choice. An issue that distributors Buffalo 8 could never have anticipated is the unfortunate, and wholly coincidental, echo between the film’s finale and the unimaginable tragedy that recently befell the family of Hollywood producer Rob Reiner.
DON’T TRIP is available now on Tubi.
