Hemet, Or The Landlady Don’t Drink Tea (2023), directed by Tony Olmos, is set in the real yet dystopian city of Hemet in California's San Jacinto Valley. The flick presents a near-future America under ineffective martial law, grappling with a pandemic of addiction to psycho-active bath salts, which turn people into zombie-like "salties." Amid this chaos, a diverse group of tenants seeks refuge in an ordinary apartment block, only to find themselves at the mercy of their tyrannical landlady, Liz Topham-Myrtle (played in heavy makeup by the film’s writer, Brian Patrick Butler).
Within the confines of the apartment complex, the tenants endure Liz's sadistic power games and manipulations, as she exploits their desperation for personal gain. The movie explores the claustrophobic and volatile dynamics between the residents, highlighting themes of survival, paranoia, and the breakdown of social order. Hemet, Or The Landlady Don’t Drink Tea delves into the darker aspects of human nature and societal collapse, questioning whether genuine connection and solidarity can exist in a world dominated by fear and greed.
What a film. Bizarre, gore-spattered, vulgar, and silly, Hemet is a fantastic example of modern satire. With an almost nonexistent budget, Olmos and Butler craft an outstanding fairy-tale-like horror flick with a smarmy edge. It’s certainly not for everyone, but just about anyone my age would find humor or interest in some part of the story. Perhaps my only real complaint about the film is that sometimes it just falls off the rails for a minute and characters have to do stupid or out-of-character things to push the plot along. I think it could be argued that this adds to the grotesque fairy tale aspect of the story, but it will also be frustrating for some more serious viewers. All told, Hemet, or the Landlady Don’t Drink Tea is an intriguing little dark comedy with outstanding satirical elements. It has great potential to earn the coveted position of a cult classic in the coming decades. Highly Recommended.