This debut feature from actor Jon Bass feels like a shot in the arm, a breakneck gambit that could really only exist in our current reality. Originally conceived in 45 parts (!) for TikTok, “Carole & Grey” straddles the line between the warmly familiar and bracingly imaginative. It’s a tale as old as time – boy gets dumped, boy gets asked to fetch ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend’s dog from the Upper East Side and bring it back to Brooklyn, because of course he does.

The film charms with an irresistible bravado and a taste for the arbitrary that recalls the 90s heyday of American Indies. It has few fucks to give, and it’s giving them anyway. It’s vivacious, meta and gloriously ditzy. But the most audacious feint lies in a simple question…how the hell did they get away with this? How do any of us?

Jim Kolmar, Independent Film Programmer