Drew (Colin Burgess) believes he’s gonna have a bunch of sex if he just quits his desk job. In “Free Time” (as in reality), it doesn’t quite work out that way.
In Ryan Martin Brown’s debut feature film, shot over 10 days on the streets of New York, the main character hits a quarter-life crisis — hard. Drew chooses life over work … until he realizes life isn’t really happening while everyone else is at work. Drew quickly cycles through hobbies (including literally cycling), friends, and every which way to watch a DVD. As it turns out, what he really wants is the mundanity of structure. Drew wants a job.
If stand-up comedian and actor Burgess feels like perfect casting as the lead, well, that’s probably because the movie was written for him, Brown said. “Free Time,” distributed by Cartilage Films, also stars Rajat Suresh (“Severance”), Holmes (“Welcome to Flatch”), James Webb, Eric Yates, Jessie Pinnick, and Rebecca Bulnes.
The theme of “Free Time” can be boiled down to a James Baldwin quote, Brown said: “Freedom is hard to bear.” Looks like it.
“Free Time” was produced by Mackenzie Jamieson, Justin Zuckerman, Nolan Kelly, and Paula Andrea González-Nasser. It was edited by Byron Leon and Brown; cinematography is by Victor Inglés. The film’s production design is by Alexandra Añez, its score is by Mason Margut, and sound design is by Matt Giordano.
IndieWire can exclusively share the “Free Time” trailer, which you can watch below. The film made its rounds on the festival scene in 2023, and will arrive in theaters on March 22.
