In this day and age, new Gen-Z-focused movies can be a hit or miss; either they are insufferably cringey, or simply inaccurate as to how teenagers truly act. “Roommates,” directed by Chandler Levack, encapsulates the transition from high school social life to college life with the inclusion of something every new college student has to deal with: a roommate.
The movie is centered around a college dean’s (Sarah Sherman) struggle to keep two roommates from fighting by telling them a story from when she was a student at the college, and knew two of the most chaotic roommates, in an attempt to make the two current roommates feel better about their situation and make up. At each plot point in the dean’s story about Devon (Sadie Sandler) and Celeste (Chloe East), it flashes back to the situation itself, giving it an enigmatic gossip feel, almost like you’re there, soaking up the drama.
While finding a roommate is a huge struggle for most incoming freshmen, it’s especially tough on Devon, as she has struggled finding friends in high school–but when Devon meets Celeste at orientation, they become inseparable. This “too good to be true” kind of vibe around the entire situation involving Devon and Celeste’s sudden closeness and immediate liking for each other only sets the audience up to suspect their friendship will turn sour.
After an entire summer of Celeste ignoring Devon’s texting confirming if they are rooming together, Devon arrives at the dorm and is surprised to see Celeste. On first glance, Celeste seems like a fun, flirty, and upbeat girl, but it’s easy to tell that she has a bad side that the audience will soon be exposed to. While roommates don’t have to be friends, the movie shows the importance of picking the right person for you and your own habits, not simply their personality or how fun they are to be around. On their first night together sharing a dorm, Celeste already holds characteristics of a nightmare roommate: eating loudly, blasting their volume on everything, keeping the lights on when Devon is trying to sleep, and overall being extremely obnoxious.
Devon tries to keep her head low, although her animosity towards Celeste builds, constantly letting go of quick-to-judge things that Celeste does, so that they can continue to get along and have a smooth year together as roommates. This is, until, during the movie, Celeste commits heinous acts towards Devon, such as sleeping with someone in Devon’s bed, kissing the boy Devon liked, turning Devon’s family on her, and lying about being poor to leech off Devon’s money.
The film itself feels like girlhood, but the downsides of negative female relationships and how fake some can be, as Devon is relieved that she never truly knew Celeste and what she was hiding behind her back. The main thing that was extremely hard to continue watching was Devon’s lack of responding to Celeste’s actions, and instead, sitting back and living with her horrible roommate, who just keeps showing her true colors. Although they do end up splitting at the end of the film, as Devon commits arson during a fight with Celeste and pushes her into a fire in their dorm, it shows the importance of not letting your feelings linger inside of you, and rather to express them to those in whom it affects.
The mind games that both Celeste and Devon play make the film showcase the importance of speaking up during the right times, and advocating for yourself within friendships that are no longer benefiting both people positively. As every incoming college freshman stresses about finding a roommate, the movie leaves you with one piece of advice: know who you are choosing completely before committing to them.
