Ahh, what a life to be young, short on rent, and have nothing to lose. Selected for Panic Fest‘s 2025 lineup, queer crime-comedy Rolling is just that: a joy ride through highs, lows, and murder.
A young couple confront their landlord over rent, only to find themselves in over their heads when unexpected events spiral out of control.
Rolling, IMDB
Viv (Vaune Suitt) and Alice (Cora Cleary) are a day late and a dollar short. Alice has just angerly quit her auto mechanic job and Viv is at home getting high. Rent is due (which they cannot pay, as it’s just been raised again), so they go to confront their yacht-owning landlord. An argument ensues, and he dies accidentally. In a panic, they steal the boat and learn their landlord is slinging drugs — and no better idea than to sell it comes about, pushing the two into a long night of pissing off the wrong people. Can’t a girl live?!
So I’ll get this out of the way first: Rolling is not a cut-and-dry horror movie, leaning heavily on the crime-comedy aspect. Two women get a hold of a bag of drugs and try to sell it off. Funny shit happens along the way. Many trips were had. Many people were shot. So if you’re looking for existential dread, nightmare-inducing panic, and/or spirits and hauntings, this isn’t it.
That said, Rolling still has elements of horror throughout — you just have to look for them. Take something as simple as Alice’s career prospects; in this day and age, it’s a wonder how anyone can keep their jobs, and the impending fear of losing your livelihood and being put out on the streets is a very real thing. The mystery drug-fueled trips may seem like fun, but being pulled away from consciousness by an unknown substance (because we definitely do not know what this drug is) and pushed into a world of colors, sounds, and texture isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. The thought of losing control can mess with you. Then, Smiley the Kingpin’s unrelenting pursuit of the women is just as frightening as any other stalker situation — or even slasher; hinting at his always-there grin, he is more than willing to kill, maim, and terrify to get what he wants.
In that way, Rolling kind of feels like a trip in itself, melding these subgenres together and morphing them into a wash of chaotic vibes and criminal pleasure. Bathed in a golden-toned light during the day and vibrant neon gem tones at night, Rolling gives its SoCal locale a “drug central” look that fits the film perfectly. Cleary and Suitt have an amazing chemistry together, so it feels great when they’re working together and it actually hurts when they argue. Viv turned out to be my favorite character, effortlessly making me laugh and just being so unserious-yet-serious at the same time. Actually, pretty much all of the characters had this really unique quality to them, the writing making them highly interesting. I can say the same for the plot; Rolling is a crazy story and hard to believe on surface level, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it nonetheless. I’m more than willing to let believability subside for a great story that keeps the pace up and the danger coming.
Rolling may not be the typical horror movie genre fans would expect, but it has some underlying moments that take this crime-comedy to the next level. With great characters that you want to root for, villains that you almost want to see live for another day, and antics that are both plausible and impossible at the same time, it’s a ride down Sunset Strip from the vantage point of 20-something lesbian stoners that got in a little too over their heads.
Rolling is available to rent or purchase on Amazon Prime Video.
