RATS!
In this maniacal stoner epic of bad taste—think John Waters if he was from the South and liked screamo—a young vandal must survive the unhinged citizens of Pfresno, Texas, including drug dealers, plutonium suppliers, amateur TV newspeople, and a psychotic cop out for blood.
Directors/Writers Maxwell Nalevansky and Carl Fry scheduled to attend.
Rats! is an unholy union of the scrappy, DIY scene that blossomed out of Austin, TX in the ’90s and a distinctly American strain of trash auteurism. Extremely crass and utterly charming, the film adeptly balances the clever and the idiotic. The plot is set in motion when emo kid Rafi gets sentenced to community service for spray-painting a local landmark, which happens to be a dilapidated payphone. What follows are the increasingly surreal exploits of a group of misfits as they navigate a serial killer on the loose, a power-tripping policewoman, FBI surveillance, nuclear terrorism, and how to make the most perfect sandwich you’ve ever had in your life. Despite raising bad taste to the level of fine art, the film also has a surprising undercurrent of sweetness. It’s a set of immaculate weirdos that truly care about each other who ground this chaotic, candy-colored snapshot of small-town life in the Lone Star State, circa 2007. The result is an unexpectedly warm, but still brilliantly bloody, instant slacker classic.
—Betsy Cass
- Director: Maxwell Nalevansky, Carl Fry
- Principal Cast: Danielle Evon Ploeger, Luke Wilcox, Darius Autry, Khali Sykes, Ariel Ash
- Country: USA
- Year: 2023
- Running Time: 85 min.
- Producer: Carl Fry, Adam Levin, Alison Rosenfeld Moses, Harrison Nalevansky, Maxwell Nalevansky, Danielle Ploeger
- Screenplay: Carl Fry, Maxwell Nalevansky
- Cinematographers: Carmen Hilbert
- Editors: Carl Fry
- Music: Germán Suane
- Filmography: Debut Feature Film
- Language: English