Sweeney’s writing and direction are bold and interesting, while his performance manages to be exceptional as well.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jun 5, 2022

It is a delightful, insightful peek into twenty-somethings and their obsessiveness with the idea of being left alone.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 16, 2021

Romantically subversive in ways that feel true to the current moment, Straight Up may well become an era-defining classic.

| Jan 14, 2021

Confusing finale aside, Straight Up is funny and touching, often in the same scene. Sweeney deserves to be commended for creating an admirable and entertaining feature-length debut.

| Original Score: B | Sep 2, 2020

Challenges both viewers and its characters to feel, think and listen at the same time, something that's easier said than done in reality and a rarity on screen.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 7, 2020

A relevant and resonant rom-com.

| May 27, 2020

Straight Up serves up identity politics in a surprising way, bringing fresh thinking to often tired genre tropes. It's a rom-com for people who think they've seen it all.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 26, 2020

[W]atching these two smart people outsmart themselves and each other has its modest yet real pleasures, not to mention an undercurrent of melancholy that makes the laughs stick to the ribs

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 6, 2020

A rat-a-tat screwball comedy with a very contemporary edge.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 27, 2020

On the surface, Sweeney's film is a playful examination of sexual fluidity, but underneath the gags, it's really a universal, sweet movie about the modern complexities of finding a soulmate.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 16, 2020

Unfortunately, some of its melancholy poignancy and sharp comedic observations don't always land as effectively as they could had Straight Up fluctuated between its highs and lows as it tends to percolate on mania.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 10, 2020

Sweeney and Findlay, who's a real find, are head-spinningly good here, juggling their torrents of dialogue with aplomb.

| Mar 5, 2020

Even though the characters are rather cartoonish, they're performed with an unfussy authenticity that makes them even funnier.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 2, 2020

Straight Up reaffirms that a truly worthy no frills, small budget indie can indeed emerge from L.A. As such, it's also a primer for aspiring filmmakers everywhere on making a good feature with with chump change and small cast in everyday locations.

| Feb 28, 2020

Straight Up's victory is the revelation that our own smarts are not smart enough to make up for romantic love; we seek something more.

| Feb 28, 2020

An assured and refreshing first feature from writer/director/star James Sweeney.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 28, 2020

Straight Up is an outright character study with regards to one person dealing with their internalized homophobia while finding their soulmate.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 28, 2020

[T]he success of the film is in how firmly it establishes these characters as individuals and as a pair.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 27, 2020

Sweeney updates that grand and glorious mode of run-for-cover screwball to the age of pop-culture-saturated digital millennials who think faster than they can process. And he does it with a flair that would leave Ben Hecht smiling.

| Feb 27, 2020

The movie comes across as a rush of bouncy one-liners and arch formal conceits. You never quite buy Todd and Rory as flesh-and-blood people who could have conversations that don't sound rehearsed.

| Feb 27, 2020