Even without checking into “The White Lotus” for Season 3, Jennifer Coolidge is still caught up with criminals onscreen in dark comedy “Riff Raff.”
Coolidge plays the ex-wife of a former mobster, played by Ed Harris, who tries to warn her family that two gangsters (Pete Davidson and Bill Murray) from their past are out to get them.
The official synopsis reads: “Vincent (Harris) is an ex-criminal who more than anything, just wants a normal, peaceful life. He and his wife Sandy (Gabrielle Union) have built a loving family with their son DJ (Miles J. Harvey) and are spending the winter break in a cabin before he goes off to college. Chaos ensues when Vincent’s disowned son Rocco (Lewis Pullman), his girlfriend Marina (Emanuela Postacchini), and Vincent’s ex-wife Ruth (Coolidge) abruptly show up to spoil the festivities with an ominous warning: the famed gangsters Leftie (Murray) and Lonnie (Davidson) are coming for them.”
Michael Angelo Corvino also stars in the holiday-set feature that debuted at TIFF in the Special Presentations section.
Dito Montiel (“A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”) directs the film with a script by John Pollono. “Riff Raff” is produced by Noah Rothman, Sarah Gabriel, Marc Goldberg, and Adam Paulsen.
The IndieWire review deemed Coolidge to be the “true standout” among the ensemble cast, with the review in part reading, “[The film] is a comedy of manners with an estranged blended family and a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern-style humor between Leftie and Lonny as they make their way up the coast.”
The “Riff Raff” ensemble has collectively (and separately) been busy: Murray appeared in Telluride hit “The Friend,” while Harris starred in Sundance feature “Love Lies Bleeding.” Pullman went viral for his turn in “Skincare,” will appear in “Thunderbolts,” and even publicly offered to replace Joaquin Phoenix in Todd Haynes’ shelved queer-romance. (Phoenix dropped out of the film five days before production was set to begin; the film was also going to star Pullman’s fellow “Top Gun: Maverick” actor Danny Ramirez.)
“I would love to get that call,” Pullman said of stepping into Phoenix’s would-be role. “It’s a brilliant idea. I’m here. I’m here. I’m ready.”
“Riff Raff” premieres February 28 in theaters. Check out the trailer below.