PIZZA MOVIE -- A Stoner's Worst Nightmare

Review by Steve Barton II

In the year of 2026, is it possible to make an original stoner comedy? Most folks would probably say no and when you see the title of a movie called Pizza Movie, it may confirm that hesitation. Luckily, Pizza Movie hits the audience with laughs right away and dispels any doubts that this movie will be anything but fun! Pizza Movie follows Jack (Gaten Matarazzo) and Montgomery (Sean Giambrone) as college students who are struggling to fit in and decide to take some random drugs they found in their dorm room and immediately begin to trip. With the only item to bring their high down being pizza, Jack and Montgomery must make the epic trek downstairs and retrieve the all-powerful pie! 

With both our stars in Pizza Movie being former child stars (Gaten with Stranger Things and Sean with The Goldbergs), this serves as a great opportunity for them to break out of their childhood careers. While hearing Adam F. Goldberg and Dustin dropping F-bombs and sex jokes was jarring, it also made the experience even more memorable and hilarious. Their chemistry as childhood friends works very well and the dialogue they have between them is very realistic and authentic to the college experience. Other students that rounded out the cast did great too like Lulu Wilson, Marcus Scribner from Black-ish and an incredible voice cameo that movie fans will love! While they are all fantastic, the surprise scene thief was Caleb Hearon as Sidney. He fills the role of an abnormally aged college sophomore who is desperate to fit in perfectly and his scene with just the main cast is the best in the film!

Pizza Movie does have similar qualities to the many other high school/college films that came before, but it stands out with its style and editing! The plot itself is quite similar to Superbad and Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, but the visuals can only be compared to something like Everything Everywhere All At Once. Capturing the visual and psychological representation of tripping on psychedelics is no easy feat, but Pizza Movie passes with flying colors! A few of these scenes could even be cut into an anti-drug PSA and they’d get the job done, because the insane nightmares these two characters experience is one that only seasoned space rangers would actually enjoy.

In the end, Pizza Movie is an incredible comedy that is also a visual roller coaster! While it doesn’t reinvent the wheel with its overall plot structure, the writing shines with its dialogue and the incredibly original and memorable moments inside the confines of the simple plot. While this should be a walk-off home run for Hulu (especially with the 4/20 holiday around the corner), Pizza Movie could also become a huge cult classic in coming years because its humor and style fits perfectly among the greats in that category. Pizza Movie could become this generation’s Superbad, but with a kickass butterfly! If you’re having a night with the buddies or just chilling at home alone and need some laughs, grab your substance of choice and some pizza (obviously) and fire up Pizza Movie! 

Pizza Movie arrives on Hulu starting April 3rd! 

Rating: 4.5/5