Every so often you catch a movie that no one has heard of and has few expectations going for it but it somehow turns out to be a bonkers delight that's probably doomed for less-than-cult-classic status. Back in 2023 it was Bottoms the badly-titled, worse-promoted "queer teen Fight Club" movie which most people who may've liked it probably avoided because it was pitched as "not for straights" when the correct target market was "for people who like absurd humor and laughing."
Now we have Pizza Movie, a horrendously-titled streaming-only comedy (Hulu & Mouse+) whose miniscule synopsis fails to capture just how wild & crazy a comedic freakshow it actually is. It's a movie I wish I could force people to watch so they can see that as hard as the killjoys try, there's still comedy that's funny to be found.
It stars Gaten Matarazzo (Stranger Things) as Jack and Sean Giambrone (The Goldbergs) as Montgomery, two friends and college roommates who are suffering the typical travails of movie freshmen. Monty has the hots for cute girl Ashley (Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Andi Mack), so he races to clean out all the change machines at the laundromat on the day she goes, but being an awkward dork completely strikes out. Jack is constantly being attacked by students for "what he did to the football team." (It eventually gets explained and almost justifies the abuse.)
They're also harassed by upperclassmen led by Logan (Marcus Scribner, Black-ish), whose posse includes Lizzy (Lulu Wilson, Ouija: Origin of Evil), a former friend of theirs who avoids them now while trying to fit in with the cool kids even though Logan is just financially using her. After Logan & Co. break the bottle of booze they'd planned to drink that night, an alternate mind-altering option literally falls from above when an Altoids-like tin labeled "M.I.N.T.S." falls from the drop ceiling where it was secreted a decade before.
After the side effects of taking mystery pills begin manifesting, they Google for information and find the only result is a YouTube video where Frankie (Sarah Sherman, SNL) explains the six phases of effects culminating in something seriously not good. However, the side effects can be halted by eating pizza. Simple enough, right? Just order a pizza, eat it, and you don't have to amuse the baby, the first of the side effects which are so bonkers that I'm not going to spoil them. What could go wrong?
Well, everything. For starters, the pizza is delivered by a Snackatron 3000 robot (voiced by SNL's Bobby Moynihan), and because the dorm's elevator is out of service, it can't come up to their floor. Going down isn't an option either because the paramilitary RAs, led by Blake (Jack Martin, La Brea), are searching the rooms for contraband and control the stairways. Insane hijinks ensue.
Because so much of the fun comes from the absolutely bonkers situations the drugs effects cause, I can't really break down what makes Pizza Movie such a treat. If you like super offbeat random premise generator comedy movies like Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (not reviewed, but 7/10) then you should enjoy what the BriTANicK duo of Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher have written and directed.
Score: 9/10. Catch it on Hulu.
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