It’s worth noting that when going into Pizza Movie, almost everything that happens makes absolutely no sense, but within the confines of the film which Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney have written, it all somehow works, and you’ll never once question the absurdity and ridiculousness of the journey that they take you on.
Gaten Matarazzo comes fresh off Stranger Things and finds himself in this coming-of-age film starring alongside Sean Giambrone, a Hulu alumnus who has also come from the recently concluded Solar Opposites. Pizza Movie follows two college best friends, Montgomery (Sean Giambrone) and Jack (Gaten Matarazzo), who accidentally take a mind-bending experimental drug that throws them into the most chaotic night of their lives as they must survive six phases while on the simple mission of grabbing a pizza to stop the effects of the drug.
As the movie starts, we learn that Montgomery is this shy kid who’s trying to catch the attention of the girl he’s crushing on, Ashley (Peyton Elizabeth Lee), while on the other hand, Jack is the most hated person on campus for what he did to the football team and suffers getting chased, beaten and yes, farted on for his actions. Where this film begins to catch my attention is that we find ourselves, for the entire 90-minute runtime, trapped in the building as they try to find a way to make it to the ground floor and get to their pizza, which will bring their hallucinations to an end.
The experimental drug, Mind, Igniting, Neural, Tuning Simulants or most simply known as M.I.N.T.S., takes them through six phases, and some of these phases are unexplainable with how they affect the rules of reality, as you’ll witness them change time but also see the point of view from a different person, which just showcases them tripping off their balls as usual, but with a movie like this, you just begin to accept whatever it throws at you, which allows for a more enjoyable experience.
The drugs aren’t the only obstacle for Jack and Montgomery as they try to make their way to the pizza. Kocher and McElhaney have written the RAs, led by Blake (Jack Martin), to be the villains of the movie as they patrol the dorm, cracking down on drug usage and sending anyone to Gralk Hall, which is made to seem like it’s the Alcatraz of all the dormitory halls.
Sean Giambrone and Gaten Matarazzo have fantastic comedic chemistry with each other, and everything that they do just rolls off perfectly. It’s a pairing that I didn’t know I needed before watching Pizza Movie, but the two amplify every scene that they’re in together. Jack Martin feels like the standout of the movie with his performance, as he operates as this rule-enforcing officer that spreads fear across the dorm.
For a movie of this calibre, he’s the ultimate antagonist and makes Jack and Montgomery’s journey to this pizza feel like there’s actually a lot more at stake, except for the fact that the final phase is called “Your Worst Nightmare Comes to Life and Shoves a Chainsaw Up Your Ass”, and trust me, that’s not an empty-handed threat.
The duo become more tangible when Lizzy, an old friend of theirs who’s now hanging with a new group of friends, joins them on their journey after it’s discovered she also took the drug. Pizza Movie falls into tropes that you commonly find in coming-of-age films, with the fallout between friends that’ll evidently be fixed by the time of the third act, but with the inclusion of Lizzy, we slightly get more out of this trope and overall an ending that’s satisfying with the character relationships.
Pizza Movie is arguably at its best when it’s tackling things that make absolutely no sense and just forces you to accept what’s happening. At one point, the movie breaks the fourth wall in the best way possible with easter eggs that reference the movie itself, which all made for a good laugh, and while it was a risky move, as it could be the last straw to fully lose someone’s immersion with the film, it felt like the perfect move for a film that has no bounds.
If you were to take a movie like Booksmart and combine it with the absurdity of Everything Everywhere All At Once, Pizza Movie is exactly what you would get. Who doesn’t want to watch a movie where Daniel Radcliffe voices a butterfly that worships its god, Montgomery and is somehow a central part of the film? It’s a chaotic movie that doesn’t know when to stop, but Gaten Mazarazzo, Sean Giambrone, Jack Martin, and Lulu Wilson make this such a fun ride that it’s hard not to indulge in the madness that is Pizza Movie.
