The first feature film from writer-director-actor Cooper Raiff, “S—house,” premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in 2020, the effort winning the Grand Jury Prize for best narrative feature. In it, he portrays Alex, a college freshman navigating the challenges of that time in a person’s life.
His follow-up effort, “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” took home the Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. In it, he portrays Andrew, a young man fresh out of college, who’s moved into his younger brother’s room in the home of his mother’s boyfriend, as he has yet to land a job that will allow him to support himself.
Landing this week on Apple TV+, “Cha Cha Real Smooth” is an unusual coming-of-age film, one that rather successfully — if also bittersweetly — captures what can be a confusing period in a man’s life. In many ways, you still feel like a kid, but you’re also yearning to add some adult element to your existence.
