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Pizza Movie (2026) | Review

 

2026 | R | 92 mins. | Directed by Nick Kocher & Brian McElhaney

Pizza Movie follows two college students, Montgomery (Sean Giambrone) and Jack (Gaten Matarazzo). Both are kind of nerdy and not well liked at their school, so they are constantly picked on and bullied. One night they decide to take it easy in their dorm room and order a pizza. While waiting on the food they discover a tin filled with unfamiliar drugs. They decide to take one each hoping to get high and relax after a long day. Little do they know that they've taken a drug made by a former student and after some research they discover that they need to eat something along with this drug otherwise their night will be a living hell. Now they must conquer two flights of stairs to get their pizza to relieve the hallucinations from their high.

When it comes to stoner movies, or drug related comedies, one of the key elements in making a good one is finding the right pair to lead the movie. Matching up Sean Giambrone and Gaten Matarazzo as two lovable losers makes for a great pairing. After spending ten years each growing up on separate TV shows, this is a perfect opportunity for Giambrone and Matarazzo to branch out into something more adult. The two have great chemistry together and feel like they could genuinely be friends in real life. Their back and forth with each other is great and the movie takes advantage of both of their strong comedic chops.

There isn't much in the way of a story here. However, despite its simple premise it does make for an interesting concept. Watching two people struggle while high on drugs trying to retrieve a pizza does make for some good comedy. The jokes don't stop coming throughout the run of Pizza Movie. While not every single joke may land, when they do they hit hard. This is genuinely funny throughout most of its runtime and if the overall movie was just a bit tighter, this could have been one of the best comedies of the decade.

Where the movie loses a step or two is in some of the subplots. One subplot that does work out is the character of Lizzy (Lulu Wilson) joining the boys on their journey. Wilson adds a nice dynamic along with Giambrone and Matarazzo and the three have some great scenes together. There is a group of bullies led by the character Logan (Marcus Scribner) that are mostly a one note joke. Then there's the group of Resident Advisors that become a huge part of the story. At first, it seems like they may not amount to much and then by the third act their leader Blake (Jack Martin) becomes heavily involved. Most of the scenes with these characters slow the movie down and it really makes the third act pale in comparison to the first two.

The movie is at its best when it shows the effects the drugs have on Montgomery and Jack. Seeing their heads explode anytime one of them says a curse word or seeing them switch bodies with others make for some of the funniest scenes. It's when the movie strays away from them to look at some of the other groups that it starts to lose something. There are a couple of scene stealers in the way of a food delivery robot called Snackatron 3000 and a voice cameo from Daniel Radcliffe as a butterfly. More time spent with them would have been the better route to go versus the bullies and RAs.

While there are some scenes that bring the movie down, Pizza Movie is mostly consistent. Sean Giambrone and Gaten Matarazzo make for a great pairing and watching their antics throughout the movie make for some big laughs.

Grade: B-

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