AFF Review: ‘Who Invited Charlie?’

In the early days of the pandemic, I had zero desire to watch any media that even mentioned COVID. Even in the months that followed, when testing improved and vaccines became accessible, I preferred my content to be calming, and completely unrelated to our increasingly-distressing reality. Watching the news seemed taxing enough, and for a while at least, most attempts to make humorous content surrounding the virus seemed far too fresh and frenetic to be funny. Who Invited Charlie? is the pandemic comedy that I wish I’d had in the early days of the pandemic. Xavier Manrique’s irreverent COVID comedy made its Austin Film Festival premiere recently, and it was the perfect remedy for my plague-induced malaise. 

Who Invited Charlie? begins on a fateful New York City day in late 2019, when the affluent and antsy Phil (Reid Scott) runs into an old friend. Charlie (Adam Pally) happens to find Phil just as he’s been dumped by his mistress, and just before he gets beat up by a fleet of Santas – a scene that begs to be viewed, not read. While Phil briefly catches up with his old, somewhat disheveled pal Charlie, the two learn just how different their lives have become. Phil, with a wife and teenage son to get back to, hurries along the interaction with Charlie but assures his friend that he owes him one. The film then cuts to March 2020, the world falls apart, humanity descends into madness, Phil and his family retreat to their home in the Hamptons, and just as it comes time to avoid everyone else on earth, Charlie shows up at their front door.

Desperate to escape the close-knit chaos of the city, Charlie pleads with Phil to let him crash there for a while, to which Phil begrudgingly agrees. Charlie hardly fits into the Hamptons lifestyle, but his sloppy charisma and weed-fueled wisdom proves to be the antidote that this anxious family needs. Phil, his wife Rosie (Jordana Brewster), and especially their son Max (Peter Dager) learn a lot from this friendly neighborhood stoner – about coping and adapting and finding the funny amidst the wreckage of this worldwide disaster. Who Invited Charlie? is an exploration of the kind of intimacy you can only have with your family or chosen family, when everything else is stripped away and even the familiar becomes unfamiliar. 

It has a cozy quality, one that can only come from well-written characters and a tangibly true story. Adam Pally is hilarious and magnetic and somehow has chemistry with everyone. During a time when we were all tightly-wound and far too aware of one another, Charlie is the one messy housemate you’d actually want by your side. This character’s genuine likability, combined with a superb script, has the ability to make even the darkest days of early COVID seem charming. This critic, who didn’t leave their house until 2021 and is still wary of pandemic-related humor, was very skeptical of this film’s premise, but this film was joyful and tender and exactly what it needed to be. Even in its moments of poignancy, Who Invited Charlie? refuses to dwell in the dismal, and while there’s no telling when the pandemic will finally end, Who Invited Charlie? provides one that is sure to make you smile.