Loved Mark Duplass in 'Backrooms'? Check Out His Most Underrated Mumblecore Road Gem

If you recently watched Backrooms and recognized Mark Duplass as researcher Phil, now is the time to discover his early work, which largely defined the independent film scene of the 2000s.

Before becoming a producer of major indie hits, Duplass and his brother Jay directed The Puffy Chair. They made the movie with $15,000 borrowed from their parents, and it became one of the defining moments of the mumblecore movement.

What Is 'The Puffy Chair' About?

Josh and Emily, a young couple, find a rare chair on eBay – the same one that once belonged to Josh's father. On their way to the father's birthday party, they stop by the seller's house to pick up the gift.

They also stop by Josh's brother Rhett's house. Rhett is a loser and a womanizer who's completely unprepared for a serious relationship. The chair turns out to be in poor condition and requires restoration. While the furniture is being repaired, the couple is stranded in a remote place.

During this time, Rhett finds a wife, and Josh and Emily begin to understand their own relationships and insecurities. The more we observe the couple, the more evident their grievances become.

'The Puffy Chair' Is All About the Mumblecore Aesthetic and the Magic of Imperfection

The Puffy Chair is an unabashedly indie film. The Duplass brothers used a miniature Panasonic Mini DV camera and shot guerrilla-style in real locations, such as a battered van, cheap motels, and the streets of quaint suburbs.

This aesthetic makes it look less like a traditional movie and more like an unedited video recording left over from a road trip in the mid-2000s – the camera shakes, the dialogue breaks off mid-sentence, and the close-ups of faces create a sense of documentary authenticity.

The Duplass brothers are often compared to John Cassavetes, but with one important caveat – the directorial duo has a sense of humor. So, the characters in The Puffy Chair aren't grim tragedians but people who know how to laugh at themselves.

'The Puffy Chair' Is the Best Breakup Movie You Haven't Seen

The Puffy Chair was one of the first mumblecore films, a genre characterized by low budgets, improvisation, and long, naturalistic conversations. The filmmakers challenged established studio conventions and proved that good cinema could be made without a big budget – all that was needed was a focus on the drama of an ordinary person's life.

However, The Puffy Chair is also an unconventional melodrama – it's a film in which the journey wears down each participant in its own way.

Rhett doesn't find the love of his life because he idealizes a woman he sees, and Josh's gift turns out to be worse in reality than it seemed in the picture because people tend to embellish the past.

In the final scene, Josh and Emily simply hold each other and freeze, only to be released a moment later, separated and perhaps never to see each other again – one of the most honest and poignant depictions of the end of a relationship in cinematic history.

What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'The Puffy Chair'?

• The Puffy Chair has 78% from critics and 62% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

• On IMDb, the movie has a score of 6.5/10.

• On Letterboxd, The Puffy Chair scored 3.5/5.0.

Where to Watch 'The Puffy Chair'?

The Puffy Chair is available to buy or rent on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.