Movies by Lauren Lapkus

With a bold, offbeat sensibility and a gift for unearthing the absurdity in everyday life, Lauren Lapkus has emerged as a distinctive new voice in independent film. Though perhaps best known for her acclaimed work as an actress on shows like Orange Is the New Black and Crashing, Lapkus has proven herself to be an equally talented director, showcasing a flair for dark comedy and a keen eye for the quirks of human behavior. Lapkus made her directorial debut in 2019 with the wonderfully peculiar Food Place, a small-scale character study that follows the misadventures of a group of hapless diner employees. Eschewing traditional narrative in favor of a more observational, improvisational approach, Lapkus crafts a delightfully off-kilter world, populated by misfits and oddballs who feel fully realized and utterly believable. Whether she's exploring the petty grievances and power struggles that simmer beneath the surface of the diner's daily grind or unearthing the poignant loneliness that drives her characters, Lapkus brings a refreshingly unsentimental, yet deeply empathetic touch to her filmmaking. With Food Place, Lapkus has firmly established herself as a director to watch, one whose unique comic sensibilities and willingness to embrace the strange and the mundane promise to yield many more idiosyncratic, insightful cinematic gems in the years to come.