Micro Budget Review: A Blisteringly Funny Satire of Making Movies on the Cheap

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Let me tell you, if you’ve ever worked on a movie set – and I’ve spent way too much time on them – you’ve almost certainly encountered a truly awful director. Someone who’s all boss and no talent. Well, this movie, a hilarious fake documentary from Patrick Noth and Morgan Evans, nails that experience. It’s filled with incredibly gifted improv actors playing the most clueless crew members you can imagine, and it perfectly captures the chaos of a super low-budget film shoot. Honestly, it’s a laugh riot from beginning to end – seriously, I was cracking up the whole time.

Noth both wrote and stars in the film, playing Terry, an inexperienced and clueless director who believes he can make a low-budget movie and sell it for a fortune to a streaming service. Funding for the project is unclear, but it’s obvious that any money available is being used sparingly. The actors are working with the hope of future profits, the catering consists of spoiled food and basic staples – like rotten cabbage, untoasted bread, and just mayonnaise – and they’re filming in an AirBnB without permission.

Micro Budget Is The First Great Mockumentary in Years

Erica, who is actually the wife of the actor playing Terry, is heavily pregnant but still tirelessly supports her husband’s ambitious goals, even to the point of sacrificing her own comfort – she’s shown cleaning up messes and preparing a large meal all on her own. While it’s frustrating to watch Terry behave poorly, it’s also amusing to see Erica desperately trying to manage everything. The small film crew is hilariously inept, and the movie subtly hints at the difficulties of the film industry, suggesting that many are working despite knowing better because of limited job opportunities.

Chris (played by Jon Gabrus) is Terry’s assistant director and recognizes Terry is out of his depth, but feels stuck helping him anyway. Gabrus, like several others in the cast, trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) and is a regular guest on Scott Aukerman’s popular comedy podcast, Comedy Bang! Bang! He adds humor to many scenes with either silly, unexpected lines or jokes at his own expense.

Terry, the director, admits he intentionally chose a diverse cast primarily to boost the film’s marketability, and shockingly revealed prejudiced views. The two main actors, Jenny (Nichole Sakura) and Garry (Brandon Micheal Hall), shared a natural chemistry and playfully discussed a potential romance. However, Terry was openly attracted to Jenny and interfered with their connection, even canceling planned scenes to undermine their developing relationship. He was even heard saying he felt compelled to make Garry appear less attractive, suggesting he’d intentionally cause weight gain.

Despite its short runtime, the film packs a lot into its story. One memorable moment involves Terry bringing on Brett (played by SNL writer Neil Casey) as an intimacy coordinator – a darkly ironic choice, as Brett is currently under investigation for sexual assault and bears a striking resemblance to the subject of Tiger King. Meanwhile, Toby (Chris Parnell), the AirBnB host, mistakenly believes the film is a pornographic production and threatens to call the police. He relents, however, if his girlfriend, Darby (Maria Bamford), can make a cameo appearance, which she does with wonderfully awkward enthusiasm.

The movie within the movie features a 1990s-style disaster scenario: a meteor destroys Toronto. This is quite different from the typical low-budget film. The visual effects are created using simple tools like Clip Art, handled by the VFX supervisor, Rick (Bobby Moynihan). However, the heart of Micro Budget lies in what happens between filming scenes, captured by Devin (Evans), a documentarian making a behind-the-scenes feature for the movie’s DVD release.

At times, the movie feels like a playful take on William Greaves’ Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One. While we always know it’s a film, it makes us wonder whose perspective we’re actually seeing. The character of Terry is over-the-top villainous and silly, but is he wrong to want a different life? Not necessarily—except when it threatens the well-being of his child or wife. But this is Hollywood, after all, and sometimes sacrifices are expected.

Micro Budget releases in select theaters on February 28th, 2026.

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2026-02-26 00:08