Erase the phrase “Austin” from their content material, and most of the people would have a tough time detecting any connective thread between Richard Linklater’s 1990 indie breakout “Slacker” and its distant offspring, the brand new comedy “Lease Free.” The Texas burg of the sooner movie was the sort of laid-back collegiate small city the place reasonable eccentrics with no seen technique of fiscal help may simply drift from each day, in a perpetual “hole 12 months” between college enrollment and no matter form grownup life would possibly ultimately take. In Fernando Andres’ sophomore characteristic, in contrast, the strain is on: Life ain’t low-cost in what’s turn out to be a a lot greater, pricier metropolis, with each crashpad our rudderless heroes land on recognized onscreen by its estimated market worth. 

“Slacker” anticipated the indie mumblecore motion that the slicker “Lease Free” now post-dates. This new movie carries on their unfastened lineage of idiosyncratic, character-based cringe comedies wherein twentysomethings grapple with discovering a spot within the bigger world—and failing, extra typically that not. Andres’ male odd couple are regularly maddening of their poor choices, which at all times handle to make awkward conditions worse. However these conditions are additionally very humorous, and ultimately even a bit touching, as an episodic progress provides as much as greater than the sum of its elements. Having traveled the competition circuit after premiering at Tribeca final 12 months, “Lease Free” launches on digital platforms on Friday.

Ben (Jacob Roberts), who’s homosexual, and the theoretically-bi-but-mostly-straight Jordan (David Trevino) are lifelong besties launched visiting Manhattan. Because of the largess of well-off Lindsay (Annabel O’Hagan) and Rob (Jeff Kardesch), Ben plans to remain on, whereas Jordan will return to Austin. Their trip money already gone, the 2 males spend what’s anticipated to be one final day collectively joyfully seeing how huge a chunk of the Massive Apple they will take with out spending a cent — leaping subway turnstiles, having fun with buskers and free museum days, and so forth. 

Sadly, a drunken Ben makes a heinous error in judgment that abruptly extinguishes the generosity of their hosts. Ongoing guest-room tenancy now off the desk, he has no selection however slink again to Austin, the place he’d already terminated his prior employment and housing preparations. So he finally ends up an unanticipated houseguest for Jordan’s girlfriend Anna (Molly Edelman), who’s already doubtful about supporting one financially challenged manchild. She attracts the road at making it two, pushed previous tolerance by the final obnoxiousness of Ben — a concurrently over-sensitive and insensitive kind that solely a mom (or BFF) may love. 

Hoping to show imminent homelessness into an journey, the duo make a plan impressed by their day of economical leisure in Manhattan: They’ll spend the following 12 months hopping from one pal’s abode to a different, placing apart all earnings saved on hire in direction of a everlasting return to NYC. 

For sure, they’ll put on out a whole lot of welcomes en path to that ever-receding purpose. The exquisite-corpse narrative ensuing leans arduous on the charity of households that embody a bunch get together pad, an ex’s shared condo, a lesbian couple, a minimum of one in every of Ben’s Grindr hookups, and extra. This nomadic existence lastly frays not simply their hosts’ endurance but additionally the central friendship. Remodeling into one thing like a bickering married couple, they discover adversity strengthens their bond till it unlatches like a flying wedge. 

Their interdependency makes “Lease Free” endearing, regardless of all of the exasperating habits on show. Ben, particularly, is so belligerently tone-deaf that you just marvel that he has any associates left to alienate. His peevishness is partly defined when he and Jordan should return to his household house, the place Ben’s father (Jeff Clever) and brothers (Matt Rubal, Andrew Logan) represent a small military of fist-bumping bros — however Ben finally ends up extra of a cross for them to bear than vice-versa. 

That’s one in every of a number of standout stretches right here, one other being the note-perfect depiction of our heroes feeling the indiscriminate love whereas on ecstacy. All these interludes are sharply written and performed, with essentially the most spectacular turns typically springing from essentially the most annoying personalities: Notably Roberts’ Ben, but additionally Neal Mulani because the bossier half of an upwardly cellular homosexual couple, and Kristin Slaysman as a swinger who makes an attempt to reposition Ben on the Kinsey Scale. These figures cease simply wanting caricature, their self-absorption credible even when it verges on the grotesque. 

These in search of generational insights will discover some right here, with the broadest conclusion to be drawn being that the majority millennials actually don’t care who’s homosexual, straight, bi or no matter. However that blase perspective doesn’t lengthen to the extra critical matter of dinero. Ben scrapes by as a none-too-gracious DoorDash supply driver, amongst different odd jobs; Jordan could have a vocation as a photographer, however wants to use himself. Whereas there’s little closure on the fadeout right here, you might be positive they’ll every need to kind the difficulty of turning into self-supporting out prior to later.

Andres and his returning co-writer Tyler Rugh made an intriguing characteristic debut 4 years with “Three Headed Beast”: an nearly dialogue-free fictive portrait of an open marriage that turns right into a menage a trois. It was achieved, if in the end extra compelling as a stylistic experiment than in storytelling or emotional phrases. “Lease Free,” nevertheless, has coronary heart in addition to panache, a lot as we could need to shake some sense into its characters. Anders’ personal cinematography and enhancing (Drew Levin shot the opening New York sequences) are astute and their willingness to combine up tones and techniques is echoed in Austin Weber’s authentic rating and music supervisor Livy Rodriguez-Behar’s numerous number of preexisting tracks.