Director: Fernando Andrés
Writer: Fernando Andrés, Tyler Rugh
Stars: Jacob Roberts, David Treviño, Molly Edelman
Synopsis: After hitting emotional and financial rock bottom, best friends Ben and Jordan come up with a scheme to spend an entire year living “rent free” with the help of friends, family and strangers alike in a rapidly changing Austin.
Fernando Andrés wowed audiences at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival with his and Tyler Rugh’s debut feature, Three Headed Beast. Without retreading my original review of that film, what most stood out was how bold it set out to be from the very outset. And two years later, Andrés returns to the Tribeca Film Festival with his sophomore effort, Rent Free. Upon viewing the film, I gladly stand by the statement I made when first introduced to his work: we are witnessing the birth of a wildly exciting, and great, contemporary filmmaker. Co-written by Andrés and Three Headed Beast co-writer/co-director Rugh, Rent Free very quickly highlights something that seems to be missing from contemporary cinema. At the very least, it’s a noticeable absence from movies being made today.
There was some online discourse recently questioning why many current filmmakers are choosing to not set their films in the present day. Part of this surely stems from not wanting to address issues plaguing the minds of those living in it at this very moment. If we turn to art as an escape, perhaps it’s better for movies to exist in a time that feels slightly different? Obviously, time and place can also affect a story, but it’s always interesting to note when a film just heads back in time by a handful of years. Then there are films that do take place in modern times, but don’t really attempt to say much of anything about them. That is also fine, of course. But Andrés seems like one of very few filmmakers actively engaging with the very current present. Rent Free, almost immediately, shows itself to be highly indicative of the time many young adults find themselves in. Andrés is a true contemporary filmmaker. With this latest feature, he has again shown himself to be focused on what it means to have grown up, and now lived through, the aughts to the mid-20s. And it’s both refreshing and exciting to see it happening in real time.
Living your life invariably comes with a set of issues. It’s an unfortunate part of reality that pretty much all humans share in common. The issues can stem from a litany of places, but more often than not, it’s safe to say that financial burdens are what have plagued most people at some point or another. And this is certainly true for Ben (Jacob Roberts) and Jordan (David Treviño). Two twenty-somethings from Austin, Texas, they have been friends since childhood, and find themselves on the verge of major life changes. Ben has sold away all his belongings to begin his New York era, while Jordan is preparing to resign a lease in Austin with his girlfriend of two years. Jordan, being the absolute real one that he is, joins Ben on a trip to New York to see his friend off, and spend some time in the big city. And as they assuredly know, New York can be ridiculously expensive.
Andrés makes a point to note this fact by plastering the monthly rent and address where the duo is staying across the screen, in big block lettering. With the added information of how many bedrooms and bathrooms there are, Rent Free quickly begins taking shape. As a lifelong New Yorker who just moved boroughs in search of cheaper rent, the number frightens. And it serves as a painful reminder that wherever we go in life, and whatever problems we’re dealing with, there’s always that dreaded number that looms in the distance. Like clockwork, it rears its menacing head once a month, with apparently no end in sight. Yes, New York City, in particular, can be an astronomically expensive place to live. But it is obviously such a fun place with a ton of opportunities. (I promise, this isn’t just my personal bias). So we get to see Ben and Jordan, who are wildly low on funds, take advantage of all the free activities the city has to offer! Across this free-wheeling montage, Andrés sheds any preconceived ideas fans of his last film might have expected from the filmmaker. Where Three Headed Beast was full of patience and quiet moments, Rent Free is much more frenetic. The reason being? The common anxieties of what it means to be a young adult in this generation!
Without getting into the finer details of the plot itself, Ben and Jordan unexpectedly find themselves without the homes they planned on living in. And after one intoxicated discussion leads to a comically half-baked idea, the two formulate a plan. A better term for it would be a scheme; in their eyes, it’s justified as a “social experiment”. Whatever term fits best, they decide that for the rest of the calendar year, the two will live rent free. They’re well-loved by all of their friends, and they have many across Austin. In the meantime, they’ll save plenty, and surely make some memories with their closest friends during this transitional period of living. So what could possibly go wrong? As it turns out, quite a lot. In the vein of classic buddy comedies/road-trip movies, Rent Free finds the perfect balance of all the best qualities of both comedic sub-genres.
While the film primarily takes place in Austin, the homes and apartments (and subsequent rents) around the city vary wildly. So it’s equally important that the duo experience quite the range of circumstances. It’s also crucial that they experience a range of consequences, brought about either by their own ridiculous actions and mistakes, or simply by those who are hosting the duo. This is a situational comedy at its heart, but its ability to double as both a quiet indictment on capitalism and a mourning for quality-of-life amongst a younger generation will undoubtedly speak to many of its viewers. I have only been to Austin once, but I fell in love with the idea of the city years before I ever had the means to make the trip. I had a phenomenal time spending a week there, and I greatly look forward to returning. But from what I could gather from those who have lived there for years, Austin has found itself in a bit of a flux. Andrés, an Austin-based filmmaker himself, directly addresses this shift in culture with his latest.
There are several conversations in Rent Free which point out the major shift in Austin. With big tech companies slowly embedding themselves into the city, prices everywhere have gone up. It’s a tale as old as American capitalism itself, with lively, exciting cities around the country being slowly consumed not just by rising prices, but by losing the distinct identity it became beloved for in the first place. That’s not to say places like Austin or New York aren’t still great places to live, but there is a clear and noticeable shift as far as people from the respective cities can tell. And as young individuals still trying to find their footing in life, what are we to do? In-person job-hunting and professional opportunities seem all but fruitless endeavors (something Rent Free comedically addresses). The culture around app-based interactions seems all but hopeless and soul-sucking (something Rent Free also pokes fun at).
Having one’s own personal space, or even the concept of a “place” is becoming more and more blurred as people find themselves forced to get one, two, or possibly even three roommates in order to pay a monthly rent that only ever goes up (something Rent Free seems to be fundamentally based around). It never really feels like Ben and Jordan are going to provide an answer to this dilemma over the course of the film. And that’s refreshing, particularly because there’s something reassuring, if ever so slightly painful, about seeing your own predicament honestly depicted on screen. It’s difficult to not think about Wallace Shawn’s musings in My Dinner with Andre (1981), wherein he thinks back on his youthful comfort versus the realization that, later in life, all one is forced to think about is money. It is unfortunately one of the few irrefutable facts of reality. But even with such a dour truth at the core of Rent Free, Andrés and Rugh’s script find a way to make this reflection of life amusing and comical.
Ben and Jordan are very much portrayed as a chaotic duo. To see them sabotage themselves repeatedly earns many laughs throughout. And this feels like the key to Rent Free. It’s the honest truth that, in life, we are sometimes going to irrevocably mess things up for ourselves. There’s no escaping it. And the sooner we accept it, the easier it will be to recover from the stumble in the moment. And more often than not, a stumble is all it is. What may seem dire and impossible to solve is just a scuffed knee or a story to tell. Ben and Jordan both make mistakes in this film. And they do have to face some of the consequences of their actions. But importantly, they address one another’s shortcomings.
And they do so in a way that only longtime friends can do; in a way that is inarguably very blunt, and downright hostile, at times. But after years of knowing one another, sometimes that edge is what is needed to really allow feelings to sink in. It’s something to look back on over breakfast the next day and laugh at, but also never forget how it forced you to confront your own actions. With Rent Free, Andrés makes clear his knowledge that we’re all just trying to figure it out as we go along. It’s in that process we learn about ourselves, our friends, and the world around us. And to see Andrés take us through these processes cinematically, providing reflections for an audience very much in the thick of it, is equally exciting. Whatever dilemma of young adult life Andrés decides to turn his camera towards next, rest assured it will be with a curious, honest, and exciting eye.
Rent Free celebrated its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in the U.S. Narrative Competition section. Tickets for screenings and more information on the film can be found right here.
