Releasing this weekend, Rent Free is a buddy comedy for the Gen Z and Millennial crowd. the promise broken of an American dream flows through this indie comedy about two best friends, who are financially strapped, and try to live without having to spend money. it subverts the immediate need to turn itself into a romantic comedy where instead of being best friends, they must have a realization that they were meant for each other. instead, it focuses more on them living in Austin with dreams of saving up to move to New York.

it didn’t have audio description, which a lot of indie films don’t Their distributors seem to not even conceptually know what it is. A while back, i gave a pamphlet on audio description to a distributor who has been around long enough, and can get wide enough releases, that they should know better. I’m here because I love film, not just clout chasing the tentpole of the week, but films made by directors of little renown and casts of people I’m unfamiliar with. Rent Free is charming, it just doesn’t have the full accessibility I need to recommend it broadly to blind or low vision users, or lay a firm stake on a grade.

that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch it either. While it didn’t strike me as a great cinematic achievement for the year, I did enjoy what I could out of it, and I think most people will. It aims to be more of a mainstream comedy, with broad humor and generally relatable characters. But, I think the more you can relate to the leads, the better time you’ll have. If you are someone who is struggling to find an apartment that you can actually pay rent for without joining Only Fans, and feel the pain of getting a degree for a job that doesn’t pay you enough to live, or pay off your student loans, you’ll understand better the aim of this film. It isn’t that all older people had it so much easier, as definitely older persons of color likely didn’t given the time period they grew up in, but our understanding of a living wage is completely decimated currently, with no one seemingly able to understand how to fix the algorithm that is the complicated list of bills that pile up. for some, rent Free is extremely validating,just on subject matter alone. So, when it drops on VOD, and you don’t require audio description, maybe this film wil speak to you. It’s also still pride month, and this is absolutely a queer film.

Fresh: 7.3/10

(Originally, I did not grade the film due to lack of audio description, but decided to slap a grade on it when uploaded to Rotten Tomatoes).