DRAG

***

Directed by Raviv Ullman & Greg Yagolnitzer.

Starring Lizzy Caplan, Lucy DeVito, John Stamos.

Comedy, US, 86 Minutes.

Released by Blue Finch Pictures

Reviewed as part of Tubi FrightFest London 2026

Anyone who has suffered from even the slightest twinge of back pain will no doubt sympathise with Lizzy Caplan’s portrayal of an amateur burglar who does her back in here in spectacularly painful style. In an increasingly dark comedy of errors, Caplan’s literally pained performance as the imaginatively named “Fuckup” bears an astonishing amount of carnage, as her near estranged sister, played by Lucy De Vito and also imaginatively named “Sister”, struggles to get them both out of the sticky situation they find themselves in.

Driving out to a rural and elegantly decorated house, the strained siblings attempt to steal from the owner in a misguided attempt at some kind of nebulous slight committed against Caplan’s character. Drawn into this literally petty crime against her will, her sister is forced to graduate from getaway driver to unwilling rescuer as Caplan soon suffers from a devastating back injury that completely incapacitates her. In a race against time, the two women soon find themselves in an even more dangerous situation when the house’s owner, played by John Stamos, returns home earlier than expected.

Although the premise may feel slightly stretched out (notice how many times I could have used the word dragged already in this review!) directors Ullman and Yagolnitzer manage to squeeze out a healthy number of plausibly cartoonish incidents that fill the otherwise brief running time of eighty six minutes with some wince-inducing moments of injury and well executed tension. There are times when the film strains its own credibility in pretending Stamos does not realise that he is not alone, but this is more than made up for with the scabrous dialogue between Caplan and DeVito which expertly sketches out their own strained to breaking point relationship.

The excellent chemistry between the two actresses helps provide a nice counterpoint to the often cartoonish violence on display. At one point, Caplan compares herself to Wile E. Coyote with the amount of damage that she goes through. For a performance that requires her to stay as still as possible, Caplan displays expert comic timing with her facial expressions and delivery of dialogue alone. Far more than a one joke movie, DRAG proves itself more than worthy with an increasingly dark storyline that takes no prisoners and provides a couple of real surprises in a film that deftly switches tone in a smart and painfully funny manner.

Iain MacLeod