'Basic' is a Female Friendship Anthem Wrapped in a Rom-Com

There is a very specific kind of madness that happens at 2:00 a.m. when you find yourself twelve weeks deep into the Instagram feed of your partner’s “basic” ex. I admit, I’ve scrolled through infinity pool shots and upstate interiors with a book perched “just so” on the table, leaving me feeling both superior and devastatingly inadequate.

In the hands of a lesser storyteller, this would just be another trope. But in Chelsea Devantez’s feature directorial debut, Basic (which recently premiered at SXSW 2026), it becomes a surreal, pineapple-themed journey into the heart of female insecurity and the friendships that save us from ourselves.

Inspired by an incident from her own life, the movie began as a short film in 2020, and the first three minutes of the feature film use Devantez’s original script. We meet Gloria (Ashley Park) and Nick (Taylor John Smith), a couple so charming you can’t help but root for them. But the peace is short-lived as Gloria begins a “crash out” spiral into the digital life of Nick’s ex, Kaylinn (Leighton Meester). Gloria’s deep like sets off a chain of events that brings her into Kaylinn’s orbit. Meester is pitch-perfect as the “hot and basic” antagonist of Gloria’s imagination, playing into the stylized, slightly surreal paranoia that many women know all too well. 

Each of the characters, from Kaylinn’s best friends, played by Chelsea’s real-life maids of honor, Ashley Nicole Black and Kenzie Elizabeth, are rich and relatable. Ashley Park has impeccable comedic timing and gives a master class in physical comedy. The script is packed with jokes and full of heart, giving it a light-hearted feel with plenty of depth.

The film radiates authentic joy and real chemistry, which is a testament to the cast and crew that Chelsea put together, many of whom Chelsea worked with on the original short. And, as a card-carrying member of Chelsea’s writing group “Behind the Bangs,” it was incredible to see many of her lessons up on the screen. The movie brought me back to 2005 when Friendster victimized me by spontaneously revealing every profile I ever viewed. The more things change the more they stay the same, as they say.

Basic is a movie about the ways we distort the truth to fit our own self-sabotaging narratives, and the magic that happens when we finally put down our phones to see the people in front of us. It is vibrant, funny, and deeply personal. After the screening, Leighton and Ashley stood arm in arm, with Ashley declaring, “Leighton and I are best friends; she just doesn’t know it yet.” Even the film’s editor admitted he navigated his own breakup during production. 

If you’ve ever made a lifelong friend in a bathroom line or felt the sting of “Instagram envy,” this movie isn’t just for you—it is you.