The slacker life is perfectly acceptable as long as you can make it last. It’s great if you are down for working strange odd jobs, sharing a house with a pack of people you might think are friends and making your art instead of worshipping the corporate life. You are a person that refuses to waste a day at IKEA and rather spend a few hours looking at Craigslist to check out who’s dumping cool furniture for free. Then you have to remember which of your friends owns a truck. It’s a fun way to spend your post college years if you can pull it off. The only problem is your friends who embraced the corporate life don’t want to play by your non-rules. They don’t get why Wednesday is an acceptable night to hit bars and enjoy bands that don’t wrap up until last call. They want to accept a 9-5 life and begin preparing for their “future.” Sour Party is a comedy about two women who are forced to have to choose between the carefree slackerdom and appeasing the expectations of straight folks.
Gwen (Samantha Westervelt) and James (Amanda Drexton) have been doing those little strange things to manifest their future dreams. In order to make a little side cash one morning, they dig up a neighbor’s succulents and set up a yard sale a few blocks down the road. However Reggie Watts (Comedy Bang! Bang!) ruins their latest endeavor by suspecting they’re up to something illegal. Back at the house, James genuflects before her vision shrine that will someday make her the next Mrs. Nic Cage. James gets a call about her pregnant sister’s upcoming baby shower. Her mother offers to just buy something off the gift registry in Gwen’s name like she always does. Gwen for the first time in her adult life wants to be like an adult. She will buy something off the gift registry and pay for it herself. This turns out to be rather foolish since the gift she marked is rather expensive and Gwen and James are rather broke. The two come up with a major solution. They’ll making a viral dance video that includes smoke coming out of a body part. The money they’ll get from views will definetly cover the price tag on the gift. Turns out this business plan is a flop. This leads to the roomies having to do something extra drastic. They must track down their friends around Los Angeles and ask back for the money they loaned them. Are they going to look uncool as they collect?
Sour Party is hilarious. A lot of that comes from the chemistry between Samantha Westervelt and Amanda Drexton. They seem like two people who have been slacking it for decades. They are perfect partners in crime when they attack the garden. They have a natural give and go in the scenes as they track down their friends. They also play up the Southern Californian vibe with including the baby gift being a Holistic Health Kit for the newborn. Their friends are SoCal figures including Corey Feldman (The Lost Boys) in a guru pose. Gwen and James viral video dance routine is funny and seems like something TikTok would force on my feed. While the film would seem rather floaty, the fact that the duo have a fixed time to get the money and make the baby shower keeps it a rush. Can Gwen to prove she’s not that sister to her sister and mother?
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. You’ll get a good view of the Nic Cage shrine. The Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1. You can hear the two women talking all over Los Angeles. The movie is subtitled in English and Spanish.
Audio Commentary includes Amanda Drexton (Writer/Director/Star), Michael Drexton (Writer/Director), Samatha Westervelt (Star) and Steven Moreno (Cinematographer). Has them admit the original opening line was a slur against Jeff Bezos. The four have a lot of fun remembering the shoot. Turns out the plants were ripped out of Steven Moreno’s front yard. Reggie Watts didn’t read the script and just showed up to improv his scene. They point out that a few locations were lost in the recent fires. Amanda and Michael got married one week into the shoot.
Sour Party: Video Yearbook (3:47) covers the first and last day of shooting. They even show off the demo of the smoking farts.
Anchor Bay Entertainment presents Sour Party. Directed by Amanda Drexton & Michael A. Drexton. Screenplay by Amanda Drexton, Michael A. Drexton & Samantha Westervelt. Starring Samantha Westervelt, Amanda Drexton, Nathan Owen, Ceciley Jenkins, Scott Monahan, Douglas Bennett, Augie Duke, Fredrica Duke, Corey Feldman, Caitlin Leahy, Callista McMaye, Christopher Rodriguez Marquette, Evan Vincent Washington & Reggie Watts. Running Time: 83 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: June 10, 2025.
