[This review is part of the Mercury’s 2021 Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) guide. You can check out all our PIFF reviews here.]
Let’s cut to the chase: I LOVED Rehab Cabin. The characters, despite being bumbling, self-absorbed kidnappers, are my people. In addition to being full of LOLs, it’s also a sweet meditation on friendship, nostalgia, and holding our favorite celebrities to impossible standards.
Chloe (Lacey Jeka) and her gay best pal Domenic (Scott Mandel) are two directionless 20-somethings who spend much of their time on the couch binge-watching their favorite movies from childhood, both of which feature young starlet Amanda Campbell (Alexandra Stebbins). Like too many child stars, Amanda hits the skids and grows up to become a Lindsay Lohan-style washout that’s regularly featured on TMZ-styled gossip shows that bemoan (read: celebrate) the former star’s drunken exploits.
This causes Chloe and Domenic lots of consternation, and they openly wish for some way to help Amanda get back on track. SURPRISE! In a twist of fate, while taking a shift driving her father’s limo, Chloe discovers Amanda drunk off her ass and in the backseat of her car. A quick, thoughtless plan is hatched and Chloe and Domenic kidnap Amanda, taking her to a remote cabin in a hilarious and ill-advised attempt to “cure” the star and revive her career so they can return to their couch and enjoy more of her movies. Shockingly, this plan does not work.
