''The Boy Downstairs'' is a 2017 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Sophie Brooks, in her feature directorial debut. The film stars

Zosia Mamet Zosia Russell MametAccording to Vermont Births, 1981–2001, and Vermont Birth Records, 1909–2008, at Ancestry.com. (; born February 2, 1988) is an American actress and musician who has appeared in television series including ''Mad Men'', ...

, Matthew Shear,

Deirdre O'Connell Eleanore Deirdre O'Connell (16 June 1939 – 9 June 2001) was an Irish American actress, singer, and theatre director who founded the Focus Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Biography O'Connell was born in the South Bronx district of New York City, o ...

, Sarah Ramos and Diana Irvine. The film was released in the United States on February 16, 2018, by

FilmRise FilmRise is a New York City–based film and television studio and streaming network, which has become one of the largest independent providers of content to ad-supported streaming (AVOD) platforms, in addition to providing the largest free direc ...

Plot

Aspiring Brooklyn writer Diana and aspiring musician Ben's first date is on a rowboat in Prospect Park, and their relationship becomes serious over a year. Ben wants a long-term, happy marriage like his parents, but Diana plans to move to London and does not want distractions or commitments. She discourages his suggestion of moving with her, and stuns Ben by ending the relationship before leaving. After returning to Brooklyn three years later, Diana finds an apartment through Meg, a friend of her best friend Gabby. Diana learns that Ben is living in the downstairs apartment, and that he is dating Meg. She spies on Ben and Meg instead of working on her novel, annoying Meg. After Ben and Meg break up, he tells Diana that he does not want to see her as he cannot be only friends with her, and moves out of his apartment. Ben finds Diana after a minor accident. His devoted care for her at the hospital and at her home reminds Diana of Ben's kindness and character, but when she goes to his new home to confess her love, Meg is there. Her romantic difficulties help Diana finish her novel, however. The film ends with Ben awaiting her at her home, and possibly a tentative resumption of their relationship.

Cast

as Diana * Matthew Shear as Ben *

as Amy * Sarah Ramos as Meg * Diana Irvine as Gabby *

Arliss Howard Leslie Richard "Arliss" Howard (born October 18, 1954) is an American actor, screenwriter, and film director. He is known for his roles in the films ''Full Metal Jacket'' (1987), '' Tequila Sunrise'' (1988), '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' (19 ...

as Diana's Father * Deborah Offner as Shannon * David Wohl as Barry * Jeff Ward as Marcus *

Theo Stockman Theo Stockman (born December 27, 1984) is an American actor and singer, known for his roles in Broadway musicals such as ''Hair'', '' American Idiot'', and ''American Psycho'', numerous roles on television including '' Inside Amy Schumer'', ''High ...

as Eliot *

Liz Larsen Liz Larsen (born January 16, 1959 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Jessica Reed on ''Law & Order''. Larsen received a Tony Award nomination for ''The Most Happy Fella'' revival (1992) and has ...

as Diana * Sabina Friedman-Seitz as Jenny *

Natalie Hall Natalie Elise Hall or Natalie Melinda Hall (born January 25, 1990) is a Canadian actress and singer. She has appeared in various Broadway, film and TV productions. One of her first TV appearances was when she portrayed the role of Colby Chandler ...

as Ivy * Peter Oliver as Julian

Release

The film premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

on April 23, 2017. On June 14, 2017,

acquired distribution rights to the film. The film was released in the United States on February 16, 2018, by FilmRise.

Critical reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 63% based on 43 reviews, and an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''The Boy Downstairs'' finds a few fresh moments in its familiar setup and benefits from Zosia Mamet's charismatic performance, both of which are enough to keep viewers interested." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boy Downstairs 2017 films 2017 directorial debut films 2017 independent films 2017 romantic comedy-drama films American independent films American nonlinear narrative films American romantic comedy-drama films Films about writers Films scored by David Buckley Films set in New York City 2010s English-language films 2010s American films