Read @ Joe’s

SLAMDANCE ’26: Narrative Feature

Title: Danny Is My Boyfriend (2025) Director: Lucy Sandler // Mechi Lakatos Writer: Lucy Sandler // Mechi Lakatos IMDb Plot: After discovering they’re dating the same man, a recovering codependent living with her mother and a socially awkward babysitter fumble their way through a series of misguided schemes, enlisting a parade of eccentric and unqualified accomplices in a half-baked mission to get revenge. Joe Says: Danny Is My Boyfriend feels like National Lampoon shared a cringy, three martini lunch with Curb Your Enthusiasm. The resulting style is scrappy, original, and chaotic.

An absurdist, heavily ad-libbed comedy, Danny Is My Boyfriend feels like National Lampoon shared a cringy, three martini lunch with Curb Your Enthusiasm. The resulting style is scrappy, original, and chaotic. Two women discover they are dating the same man, care for a tripod dog, and attempt revenge, all with varying levels of competence and to hell with collateral damage.

Lucy Sandler and Mechi Lakatos, who direct, produce, and star, go full on into the improvisational concept. Lucy is still tethered to her Beanie Baby obsessed mother. Mechi is a socially awkward babysitter whose teenage charge (Kate Heffernan) seems better equipped for adulthood than anyone else in the scene. Their mutual betrayal by the two-timing Danny sparks a revenge plot that spirals outward to include a self-styled girlboss PI more invested in branding than busting. The premise alone is a comic engine. When Danny… fires, it really fires. And yet, there are certain scenes that merely smolder. 

The antagonistic chemistry between Sandler and Lakatos is the film’s dynamite. Their escalating irritation feels lived in, goofy, and relatable. Supporting players add layers of delightful instability, from Lucy’s eccentric family (Brooke Smith, Eli Powers) to PI carolchase’s entrepreneurial delusions. The ad libbed dialogue often lands with the kind of awkward pizzazz that cannot be scripted. You can feel the performers circling a joke, then pouncing.

That same looseness, though, is also the film’s detriment. Several scenes overstay their welcome, dampening a sharp bit into a wet towel. Improvisation thrives on momentum, and occasionally the momentum stalls. A tighter edit could have shaved the shaggy edges and sharpened the punchlines without sacrificing the film’s freewheeling charm.

Still, the resolution sticks the landing as revenge becomes secondary to friendship. Danny Is My Boyfriend showcases a fearless ensemble unafraid to look ridiculous in pursuit of a punchline. Although not always perfectly tuned, when the film lands a joke, it proves that sometimes the funniest path is the one no one bothered to outline.

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This review – and much more – is available as part of Cinefied’s Slamdance 2026 coverage

Be sure to catch Danny is my Boyfriend – and many other indie projects – over at Slamdance