JUNK: DAVID SCHWIMMER’S LA SACKER ODYSSEY
JUNK is the title of David Schwimmer’s Sundance 2024 selection LITTLE DEATH. The movie follows two unrelated storylines set over the course of a single night. The first storyline deals with a frustrated screenwriter (Schwimmer) trying to launch his career. The second storyline follows two young drifters (Dominic Fike and Talia Ryder) trying to reclaim their stolen car. JUNK will make its widely available release through MUBI on October 23, 2026. (MUBI)
David Schwimmer Plays a Frustrated Screenwriter
Schwimmer plays a screenwriter suffering from career anxiety and writer’s block living in Los Angeles.
MUBI’s official synopsis describes him as a screenwriter going through a dry spell and grappling with disappointment and malaise. (MUBI)
The film takes an existential approach and uses Schwimmer’s character’s anxieties to explore themes such as identity, ambition and what it means to achieve success in society.
Readers finding this film through searches like picasso apk download should know the film is officially available through MUBI and not through an illegitimate movie distribution service.
Dominic Fike and Talia Ryder Cross Los Angeles
Dominic Fike and Talia Ryder star as the nighttime drifters of Los Angeles who are determined to recover their stolen car.
A lost dog tags along and further complicates a chaotic situation.
MUBI places them in a “slacker odyssey” through nighttime Los Angeles. (Letterboxd)
The characters differ notably from Schwimmer’s screenwriter, adding perspective to the film.
They are of different generations and situations, but they are all grappling with the same kinds of questions about where they are heading, what it is all for, and what they are supposed to be doing with their lives.
Gaby Hoffmann and Jena Malone Join the Cast
Beyond the three principal actors, the cast includes Stephanie Allyne, Ally Sheedy, Jamie Kennedy, Justin Bartha, and Lawrence Godlfspiel. (Letterboxd)
Hoffmann plays a role connected to Schwimmer’s, and Malone plays Jessica.
Junk skillfully employs a large ensemble cast to express a Los Angeles, and its inhabitants, made up of different and randomly connected people living brief, fleeting encounters.
Rather than following one principal character for its duration, Junk moves between characters, all somewhat dissatisfied and unemployed.
Jack Begert Makes His Feature Directorial Debut
Junk is the feature film debut of Jack Begert who also co-wrote the screenplay with Dani Goffstein.
MUBI lauds the film for providing audiences with an authentic look at life in Los Angeles and giving viewers the opportunity to experience the city in an otherwise, and more traditionally, unconventional way. (Letterboxd)
Begert comes from a background in music videos, and he brings that experience and aptitude to this film in a powerful way. Junk is a strong directorial debut by Begert and it adds powerful new story to Los Angeles’s cinematic cannon.
Begert doesn’t just use the city as the backdrop for his story. He incorporates the city into his story in a way that lets characters, who seem to be in different worlds, connect to each other.
Begert has landed Darren Aronofsky, as one of the producers through Protozoa Pictures. (Rotten Tomatoes)
For audiences who encounter the film through searches involving pikachu movie app, recognizing the old title can make it easier to understand why reviews and festival coverage date back to 2024 despite the 2026 MUBI release.
Junk was originally called Little Death.
This can make the history of the film confusing, since it was shown for more than two years with the different titles.
Little Death, Begert’s first film, had its premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it also won the NEXT Innovator Award, and gave Begert’s first film recognition, before its distribution, in the festival circuit. (Wikipedia)
After that, it was called Junk for its MUBI release.
So any festival coverage, cast announcements, or reviews, published before 2026, about Junk, may be about Little Death, and vice versa.
Recognizing the old title, may also help answer, why there are reviews or festival coverage for the film, dated back to 2024, since its MUBI release, was only in 2026.
According to MUBI, the film is about, two generations stuck in between apathy and anxiety with an overall feeling of emptiness. (MUBI)
This sums up the connection between the two different and separated story lines.
Schwimmer’s character, has grown up and has professionally been successful, but is lost and feeling empty inside.
While, the younger characters haven’t figured out their path or position in life.
Neither of them has a clear idea of where their life is going.
A mix of comedy and drama will probably be the best way to treat the issues raised in the film.
Los Angeles at night provides the setting for frustration, coincidences, and unexpected meetings to intersect.
Junk will be available to stream on MUBI beginning October 23, 2026. The streaming service has decided to forego a traditional theatrical release to focus on its international streaming release. (Letterboxd)
The distinction also corrects the description in the original Google Sheets document.
The film was completed in 2024.
What was not available until 2026 is the wider distribution and title change.
David Schwimmer, Dominic Fike and Talia Ryder deliver two stories that at first glance appear very different, but ultimately deal with the same issue.
People in Los Angeles are all moving to a destination in search of something.
For some, the something is a stolen car.
For others, it is what they hope and dream will give their lives purpose.
Junk is less about reaching a final destination, than it is dealing with how uncertain the road can be to that destination.
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