Imagine going to the cinema to see Bill Murray and Pete Davidson. They’re in the trailer, they’re on the poster, they’re all over your social feeds. And then they’re in… three scenes? Welcome to Riff Raff, a film that proves marketing departments have taken over screenwriting.
One star
Two stars
Three stars
Four stars
Five stars
Disclaimer: Apropos Magazine received access or a review copy. As always, we share our own impressions — unfiltered.
Six stars
It all starts promisingly enough. Bill Murray turns up as a weary, philosophical bartender with one good line and two minutes of screen time. Pete Davidson looks like himself and says something half-funny. Then they vanish. And we’re left with a film that feels like a Zoom recording of a screenwriting class in Los Angeles.
Riff Raff tries to be an indie gem — with slightly wonky camera angles, jazzy background music, and characters who talk as if they’re always just about to finish a poem. But something is missing. Heart, direction, a reason to stay seated.
The plot? A former petty criminal tries to take stock of his life while his past — and a collection of disengaged supporting characters — threatens to catch up with him. There isn’t much riff, and even less raff. The whole thing tastes like an idea that should have stayed on the whiteboard in the writers' room.
The most annoying thing is that the film knows it doesn’t have much to offer. So it dangles the names. Bill Murray! Pete Davidson! Come laugh, come feel! But what you get are tiny cameos and long scenes with no pulse. It’s a bit like buying concert tickets, only to discover the headliner is playing one song — acoustically.
There are a few bright spots. The cinematography is sometimes beautiful, and a couple of the smaller actors actually try to breathe life into what they’ve been given. But it gets swallowed by empty indie-pretentious wannabe-magical realism. You don’t feel seduced, just... sold.
—
Let’s just put it like this…
Riff Raff is a product of its time: a film that markets itself as something it isn’t, banking on us not noticing until after the credits roll. It’s films like this that make you consider watching trailers with your eyes closed.
2 out of 5 stars
