Snack Shack is a 2024 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Adam Carter Rehmeier.
Set in the summer of 1991, it stars Conor Sherry and Gabriel LaBelle as a pair of teenage friends working at a community pool snack shack in Nebraska City.
[5] Snack Shack received a limited theatrical release in the United States on March 15, 2024, by Republic Pictures.
Carter and Moose Miller pursue various money-making schemes such as betting on horse races and brewing their own beer to sell to classmates at parties in their small town of Nebraska City.
and Moose open the Snack Shack for business, and it is immediately successful, making over $1,600 in revenue on its first day of operation.
grow, as does their increasingly heated conflict with a pair of bullies, steroid addict wrestler brothers Randy and Rodney Carmichael.
[3] Conor Sherry, then a student at the University of California, Los Angeles, was cast from a self-taped audition in a hotel room while he was isolating with COVID-19.
Supplemental locations included the Pioneer 3 Theater in Nebraska City as well as Henry Doorly Zoo and Horsemen’s Park (Renamed Statesman’s in the film) in Omaha.
The website's consensus reads: "Deftly directed by Adam Rehmeier, Snack Shack is a period-set coming-of-age comedy that's witty and charming enough to largely transcend its lack of originality.
"[8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 64 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Calum Marsh of The New York Times praised the film, writing that "with its rambling momentum and quick-witted, almost musical dialogue, it feels less like Superbad than a Robert Altman movie, sort of like a pint-size California Split.
"[9] Jesse Hassenger of Paste was also positive about the film, writing "This sentimentalization plagues so many nostalgia pieces aimed at ex-kids, though at least a movie that ultimately pushes its luck and stalls out befits the high-rolling teenagers at its center.
"[10] Robert Kojder of Flickering Myth called it "a lively and fittingly crass coming-of-age story with a great deal of feeling, truthfulness, and period specificity.
"[11] J. Kim Murphy of Variety wrote, "Armed with a talented cast, writer-director Adam Rehmeier's 1991-set feature happily squares itself in a tradition of teenage hedonism and broad learning opportunities, settling into a generic but warm glow.
[13] Murphy wrote, "Abdalla and Sherry do strike a winning chemistry, and the actress offers some subtle indicators that Brooke's ironic detachment masks a more private sadness".
Club gave a mixed review where he praised Rehmeier's directing, commenting "Whether in an impressive one-shot through a teen booze party or A.J.
and Moose flipping burgers and fries in their mouths in the back of a speeding pick-up, Rehmeier constructs an intoxicating teenage dreamworld.
"[13] Kayla Turner of Screen Rant criticized the screenplay, saying that "The movie starts off quickly and provides an in-your-face introduction to the film's intended direction.
However, the momentum quickly fizzles out, and the plot begins to meander towards the finish line, taking several unnecessary detours along the way.
[12][13][10] Roger Moore of Movie Nation criticized the film for being "very long" and "not that funny," and felt that it was a "comedy connected by disjointed and generally unoriginal scenes rather than a coherent narrative.