The Boy Downstairs review: A small-scale, well-observed romantic comedy

It benefits from a finely judged performance from Zosia Mamet as the would-be novelist, Diana

Zosia Mamet and Matthew Shear star in Sophie Brooks’ debut feature (FilmRise)

Dir, Sophie Brooks, 89 mins, starring: Zosia Mamet, Matthew Shear, Deirdre O’Connell, Sarah Ramos, Diana Irvine, Arliss Howard

Sophie Brooks’ debut feature is a small-scale, well-observed romantic comedy, just about barbed and witty enough to avoid becoming too treacly. It benefits from a finely judged performance from Zosia Mamet as the would-be novelist, Diana, who has just moved into a new apartment in New York after spending time in London. She discovers that her former boyfriend, Ben (Matthew Shear), is living in the basement.

Mamet shows excellent comic timing. She knows just when to pause and how to underplay to bring out the humour in any given scene. Brooks’ screenplay jumps back and forth in time in jolting fashion. One moment, we will be in the present. The next, we will be whisked back four years in time to when Diana and Ben first met.

They seem perfectly made for one another but Diana is wary about long term commitment. “I feel like I need to focus on myself and on my writing,” she told her startled boyfriend. Deeply hurt, Ben is in no mood to make up with her just because they are now neighbours. He has a new girlfriend, a real estate agent who is deeply suspicious of Diana.

In her own eccentric way, Diana begins to stalk her ex-boyfriend. She is always peering through his basement window and looking for excuses to knock on his door. Her writing isn’t going well. She has a dead-end job in a bridal store, selling wedding dresses to customers who treat her with contempt.

We can tell right from the outset that she still yearns for Ben. The question is how long he will be able to resist her idiosyncratic campaign to win him back.

There isn’t much here we haven’t seen in countless other low-budget US indie romcoms from directors like Nicole Holofcener and Tom DiCillo. The film was clearly made on a modest budget. However, it possesses considerable charm. Brooks has a wry and subtle sense of humour.

Simple scenes of Diana shooting the breeze with her eccentric, worldly wise landlady (Deirdre O’Connell) or walking in the park with her best friend Gabby (Diana Irvine), have an unexpected poignancy. Like her lead actress, Brooks always takes a quizzical, low-key approach. The Boy Downstairs is all the better for its avoidance of any hint of tear-jerking melodrama.

‘The Boy Downstairs’ hits UK cinemas on 8 June