Spin Me Round Review: Alison Brie Leads Underwhelming Vacation Comedy [SXSW]

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There is a lot to like about Jeff Baena’s Spin Me Round, which he co-wrote with Alison Brie — namely, the cast is fantastic, the comedy a bit unsettling and dark, and the pacing never slows enough to become dull. However, aside from the assembled cast, which includes Aubrey Plaza and Molly Shannon, Spin Me Round loses track of its premise in a bid to give the audience some short-lived thrills and intrigue that ultimately don’t amount to much.

Amber (Brie) is a restaurant manager at Tuscan Grove. She’s been there for nine years and is offered the opportunity of a lifetime when she’s chosen by her boss (Lil Rel Howery) and accepted into an all-expense paid manager’s retreat program in Italy. Her group is made up of eccentric characters, including Zach Woods, Molly Shannon, Debby Ryan, and Ayden Mayeri, as they all try to navigate the trip that becomes exceedingly strange and uncomfortable the longer they’re there. When Amber is singled out to have one-on-one outings with Tuscan Grove’s CEO Nick Martucci (Alessandro Nivola), she’s thrilled, believing she may find romance on this trip after all. However, as her relationship with Kat (Aubrey Plaza), Nick’s assistant, becomes complicated and people start disappearing abruptly, Amber realizes that nothing is as it seems and her plans for a nice vacation getaway quickly go awry.

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Spin Me Round tries to maintain its status as a comedy, but it also veers into mystery-thriller territory. While certain eerie and creepy aspects of the plot are meant to throw viewers (and Amber) off, the film ends up spiraling because it can’t keep its balance while juggling various genres and storytelling avenues.