Netflix kept Roommates from critics before release, and that did not stop the first major review from making its judgment plain: Adam Sandler’s latest corner of the streamer’s comedy machine has a sharper edge than the early output that made Happy Madison a punchline. ’s review of the film describes Roommates as a college comedy about a broken friendship, with two freshmen sliding from inseparable to bitter enemies over the course of one year.
The film stars Sadie Sandler as Devon and Chloe East as Celeste, the pair at the center of the collapse. Sarah Sherman narrates as a college dean, while Aidan Langford plays Devon’s closeted gay brother. The screenplay is by Jimmy Fowlie and Ceara O’Sullivan, and the review says the story is structured like The War of the Roses, with the feud unfolding through details that feel specific enough to sting: a Venmo request, an Instastory, a poem and the pressure of family wealth.
That matters because Roommates lands inside a very specific chapter of Sandler’s Netflix relationship. His early streaming comedies included The Ridiculous 6, The Do-Over and Sandy Wexler, titles that helped define the platform’s reputation for broad, disposable star vehicles. But Happy Madison found a different kind of success once it leaned into sweeter, more textured material, including Leo, which the review describes as having warmth and insight, and Hustle, a charmingly traditional basketball drama. In 2023, that shift was already visible in You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, a coming-of-age comedy that showed the company could do more than churn out loud punch lines.
The tension in Roommates is not just between Devon and Celeste. It is between the old and new versions of Sandler’s streaming world. The review quotes the film as calling one character a “thirsty little freak” and says the other “didn’t notice when she wasn’t around,” which suggests the comedy wants to cut closer to embarrassment, resentment and the small humiliations that break young friendships apart. That is a different lane from the noisiest early Netflix era, and it is why the decision to keep the film from critics before release reads as more than a publicity choice. It leaves the movie’s reputation to be built, or bruised, by the work itself.
Roommates ultimately appears to confirm where Sandler’s Netflix output has been heading: away from the rotten, scattershot comedies that first defined the partnership and toward films with a little more feeling, shape and bite. The question now is not whether Happy Madison can make those movies. The review suggests it already has. The question is whether Netflix wants audiences to see them early enough to judge that shift for themselves.
