Crumb Catcher

Crumb Catcher is a 2023 American thriller film written and directed by Chris Skotchdopole (in his debut feature^[2][3]), starring Rigo Garay, Ella Rae Peck, John Speredakos, and Lorraine Farris. Its plot features a newlywed couple on their honeymoon who get an unwelcome visitor during the night.^[4]

During their wedding reception, newlyweds Shane and Leah announce the publication of Shane’s book about his troubled relationship with his alcoholic father. Leah’s mother is concerned about Shane’s ability to support them as the book has taken five years, and she gives them an envelope of cash to help. An irritated Shane gets drunk and blacks out, waking up the next morning to find the envelope empty. He receives a mysterious text from someone named Rose wanting to discuss the previous evening.

As the couple wait for his old car to warm up, they see the reception’s bartender having a heated phone conversation, and are approached by John, a long-winded waiter from the party, who apologizes for losing their wedding cake. Shane and Leah depart for a remote cabin owned by his publisher for their honeymoon, but argue over Shane’s reluctance to release the novel and Leah’s struggles to support them in the meantime. After make up sex, the couple is interrupted by a late night knock on the door, which turns out to be John, who has found the wedding cake.

Although seemingly nice at first, John rambles on and makes numerous excuses not to leave, frustrating Leah. Shane attempts to remove him but receives another text, showing a video of him receiving fellatio the previous night from Rose, who is revealed to be the bartender and John’s partner. John attempts to blackmail Shane under the pretext of a forced sales pitch for a seemingly useless device he has invented called the crumb catcher. Leah becomes irritated by Shane’s inability to get rid of the pair but notices John has a gun.

Shane makes several attempts to convince them to leave, not wanting to reveal his indiscretion or the fact that the money is missing. He attempts to bribe them with a large painting which he convinces them is valuable, but they continue to push him to pay them. Eventually he breaks down and shows Leah the video, and she angrily gives them her wedding ring to pay them off, but when John discovers that Rose stole the cash from the envelope without telling him a huge fight ensues. Leah sprays John with mace, and he blindly shoves past her causing a severe head injury when she strikes a table. John refuses to allow Shane to call for assistance unless he drinks an entire bottle of tequila and take the blame for Leah’s injury as domestic violence, and he reluctantly complies.

A severely intoxicated Shane attempts to drive Leah to the hospital, but is pursued by John; when the car stalls out, he is confronted by John, who shoots him in the stomach but is then stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver by Shane and dies. While Shane crawls back to the car, a panicked Rose drives away but calls 911; the paramedics arrive as the couple die from their injuries in each other’s arms.

• Rigo Garay as Shane
• Ella Rae Peck as Leah
• John Speredakos as John
• Lorraine Farris as Rose

Crumb Catcher was released in the United States on September 24, 2023 at Fantastic Fest.^[5]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 37 critics' reviews are positive.^[6] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[7]

Maggie Lovitt of Collider gave the film a score of 7/10, calling it "funny, bizarre, uncomfortable, and an absolute cringe-fest for all the best reasons".^[3] Dennis Harvey of Variety gave the film a mildly positive review, calling it "taut" and "divertingly nasty", though not particularly insightful.^[4] In a less enthusiastic review, Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2 stars out of 4, criticizing a perceived lack of chemistry between the two leads and calling it "a labored attempt at an absurdist suspense-thriller".^[2]

• Crumb Catcher at IMDb