Film Review: The Boy Downstairs
29th October 2017
Share This Article:
Part indie-romance, part mainstream comedy, The Boy Downstairs features strong performances from its leads but struggles to deliver laughs.
The Boy Downstairs stars Girls alumni Zosia Mamet as Diana, a writer who has recently returned from a two-year stint in London. She’s now in search of that most elusive of prizes: a decent place to live in New York City. Diana finds a spacious apartment with a friendly landlady, and all seems well- until she notices her ex-boyfriend’s name on the mailbox downstairs.
Through flashbacks, we see how the relationship between Diana and Ben (Matthew Shear) developed, whilst their present selves tiptoe awkwardly around one another. The eventual cause of their breakup becomes clear quickly, but that’s not the film’s concern; screenwriter and director Sophie Brooks is far more interested in showing you how the couple falls apart.
The marketing for The Boy Downstairs pitches it as an “original” take on the romantic comedy, whilst in the same breath likening it to mumblecore classics like Frances Ha and Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy. In reality, neither the plot nor the characters of The Boy Downstairs are unconventional, and the promise of originality hampers the film’s story.

- Article continues below...
- More stories you may like...
- Hollywood two years on from #MeToo: where can we go from here?
- Legendary actor Richard Dreyfuss and director Shelagh McLeod discuss Astronaut, humanity and space travel
- Trailer: Aardman's mischievous sheep returns with an intergalactic friend in Farmageddon
You might also like...
People who read this also read...
TRENDING
TRENDING CHANNELS
CONTRIBUTOR OF THE MONTH