Alt-comedian Matt Barats returns to the director’s chair with his second directorial feature Anchors Aweigh, a semi-autobiographical film brimming with ennui and existential flailings. His debut feature Cash Cow is a documentary filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic in a similar vein of Bo Burnham’s Inside. Meanwhile, his latest feature blends mid-life crisis centred realism and documentary evidence of the many changes in his life since his youth, which makes for a hilarious and deeply personal insight on not staying stuck in the past.
Barats plays our protagonist, credited as The Presenter, a well-meaning but not-so-bright loser living in New York City whose life takes a turn for the worse. When his Off-Broadway girlfriend (Serena Profaci) turns down his marriage proposal, he decides to use this rejection by doing the only logical thing: renting a boat in the marina and watching old VHS tapes of his younger self. During his self reflection, our presenter protagonist documents his time narrating the day to day activities of his inner monologue.
Following the film’s opening prologue, I knew I would be getting into some blunt deadpan humour similar to Nathan Fielder’s comedic style. Barats delivers a lot of self-deprecating jokes that make for good laughs and cringe moments that are meant to land like that embarrassing memory you remember from the sixth grade in the middle of the night. Part of what makes each joke land is due to not only the delivery by The Presenter’s inner monologue narration but also stating the obvious, while appearing to be pretty oblivious to what’s going around. One instance is the recurring joke about how Megan just needs space away to think about her future of becoming a Broadway star and if she really does want to stay with our protagonist. Not really understanding this, he points their issues back to the botched proposal and how he should have kneeled down, which we all know wouldn’t have made a difference to her decision but did make for good ironic laughs.
The film uses a mix of documentary filmmaking with the blending of your standard fictional film. What makes these two styles work together is how they’re used to capture the story. The film presents Barats’ character in front of the camera and stuck in the past, which is captured with the grainy camcorder, playing with docufiction and confessional stylings. When we transition to the film’s modern indie film roots capture and dramatize the present day of his life moving forward in time while he’s stuck in the past. It is perfectly represented during the segments where The Presenter watches old VHS tapes of his teenage and young adult life. The aesthetic of the tapes matches the documentary style ruminations on how he is stuck in the past wanting to recapture what he once had not only his youth, but also with Megan. Barats expertly plays with differences in tone and camera work to switch between documentary and fiction, such as in the halfway point. There’s an instance in there where the scene starts off with what seems like an average documentary talking head with The Presenter talking, camera static and held onto him. But when he notices Megan out in public, we cut to Dolly zoom shots and wide and medium shots. It is moments like these that make the blending of these filmmaking styles work best, and are especially impactful since they happen in such a short timeframe and are less likely to get lost in the larger picture.
For a runtime of 71 minutes, the film never overstays its welcome, but the feeling of the film trying to keep the momentum sailing following the opening was all too potent. The film tries to capture the highs of its initial hook from the opening with Barats detailing his “lavish” life with his more successful partner and the abrupt rejection that plays off as he’s oblivious to just being a loser. However, the film rarely lives up to that hilarious introduction, though it makes a valiant effort. It partly feels like the film tries to lean too much into the style of cringe comedy that comes more naturally in other projects such as Nathan For You. It more often than not comes across too forced to actually land as either comedic or, in its own way, relatable.
However, if you are a fan of the slightly awkward, vulnerable, and discomforting comedy styles of Nathan Fielder and Bo Burnham, Anchors Aweigh is still a film worth checking out. Matt Barats delivers a film filled with deadpan humour and a blend of semi-autobiographical with realist drama. Even if the momentum doesn’t fully carry throughout the film past the opening prologue, there is still much to enjoy and much laughter to be found.
All images via Cartuna.
Directed by Matt Barats
Screenplay by Matt Barats
Produced by Whit Conway, Allie Viti
Starring Matt Barats, Serena Profaci, Mike Holt
Premiere Date: September 16, 2026 (Toronto)
Running Time: 71 minutes
Other Writers Say…
Jaime Rebanal
Barely functional as a movie but that’s also because Matt Barats states outright that this is a series of vignettes. Yet they’re also telling of a very uncomfortable place in life for anyone to be, given that he wants to insert himself into the lives of others without realizing how annoying that can get. It’s often funny for that reason, even though this movie doesn’t exactly go beyond that realm of very stupid humour. At 71 minutes, this doesn’t ever overstay its welcome, but considering how strong its opening is, the energy isn’t nearly the same moving towards the end when this movie just simply stops.
I guess that makes me glad I saw it with the Midnight Madness crowd. Feel like this kind of thing is more a form of performance art than it is a movie, but I’m at least glad I was there to witness it being performed.
Jack Cox
Connor Walsh
This movie is stupid. Very, very stupid. But if you enjoy that time of humour you may get a lot out of how irreverent and chaotic this brand of comedy can get. You will find yourself saying to yourself many of the stupid lines because they are at such a level of dumb that they become earworms of themselves.
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