Or Something (2024) Movie Review: A Refreshingly Grungey Update on the Classic ‘Before-Sunrise’ Setup about the Power of Connection

Jeffrey Scotti Schroeder’s “Or Something” (2024) is a conversational film about two strangers who spend an entire day together walking through a city after a chance encounter. While watching it, I couldn’t help but think of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, especially Before Sunrise, which uses this classic setup that is all about those free-flowing conversations. The setup offers enough room to breathe life into the characters instead of letting them be in the service of a rigid plotline. Still, for it to pay off dramatically, the characters need to be fleshed out and should feel interesting, no matter what way.

That last part is challenging in the case of “Or Something,” where the protagonist/s may not strike out as conventionally likable. Amir (Kareem Rahma) and Olivia (Mary Neely) are two New Yorkers, farthest from the wide-eyed protagonists played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Their eyes do not light up with each other’s wanderlust or curiosity. Instead, they seem eternally weary and frustrated to the point that the film feels like an anti-romance of sorts. It’s not just the tone but an overall mood that takes them to the gloomy lows more than the cheerful highs.

The film isn’t designed like a romance, but nor does it pretend to be. It’s less about finding love and more about the awkwardness while trying to make peace with the other person’s presence. We meet Amir and Olivia, who walk through the city for a particular goal, but they face a conflict almost every step of the way, leading them on a longer trip together. Throughout this journey, it feels like they are merely tolerating each other, at least on the surface. Amir tries to break the ice, trying to understand Olivia’s point of view about anything and everything out of curiosity or compulsion, but oftentimes, she shuts him off. It isn’t the kind of friction that rom-coms usually trade in.

“Or Something” doesn’t seem invested in those familiar routes of frictionless co-existence. It is rather about the desire to have a conversation despite the friction. It’s something that Rahma, the star and the co-writer, is known for through his Subway-based talk show. He stirs up discussions based on people’s hot takes in order to understand them rather than to pass judgment. The show, from what I understand, is aimed at having an engaging (and occasionally insightful) discussion about things that may go unnoticed or undiscussed otherwise.

With Or Something’s script, Rahma and Neely achieve something similar. They want us to stay with these characters, trying to understand them, despite their flaws or our reservations. It isn’t easy to fall in love or want to spend time with them as it was for something like Raine Allen Miller’s Rye Lane or Alexandre Lehmann’s Blue Jay. The former rom-com followed a meet-cute romance to offer a charming snapshot of South London, while the latter showed the two people bonding after a long time. Both stories had tragic undertones of people trying to shed their past selves, but there was something that you could connect with or fall in love with without much effort.

Neely’s character seems deliberately distant from that kind of charm, which makes it harder to join her and Amir on this road. Olivia keeps matters a little too close to her heart, which makes it harder for Amir to have a dialogue without some sort of friction. Still, the film takes us closer to understanding her pathos by offering a window to see who she might be hiding. It happens largely through the film’s intellectual discourse about gender, faith, and privilege, rendered through their conversations. They are rarely driven to make a point and often become a way for them to bond with each other.

Despite bringing us closer to their ennui and existential turmoil, the film feels far more like a snapshot of the city than the characters themselves. It captures NYC’s inherent franticness through all its grungy glory. The two characters wear heavy coats as they walk through the city’s freezing weather, and the film makes you feel the sticky sweatiness underneath it all. Despite its softer tones, the film isn’t overtly beautified, which helps it retain the unforgiving spirit of the city. Everything feels tangible, even the warmth that its characters end up showing at some of the strangest moments. That’s why it’s a memorable NYC film that gives you a sense of the place.

Not every moment lands in the movie, but when it does, it does wonders. There is a moment when Amir recalls a childhood trauma, and the shades of pain that Rahma evokes in just a few moments are sensational. The film also stands apart from similar dramas through its organically developed cultural and political discourse-led conversations, as opposed to dramas where characters seem detached from the very world they live in. In the case of rom-coms, the otherworldly fantasy is partially a point, which is why “Or Something” stands apart through its genuine earthiness and a deeper awareness.

Read More: 20 Great Drama Movies of World Cinema

Or Something (2024) Movie Links: IMDb, Letterboxd
Or Something (2024) Movie Cast: Mary Neely, Kareem Rahma, David Zayas, Brandon Wardell, Timothy Allan, Petey Deabreu, Lauren Servideo
Or Something (2024) Movie Runtime: 82 mins, Genre: Drama