Zach Weintraub is known for hyper-realistic, slice-of-life character studies (The International Sign for Choking, Slackjaw). Assets & Liabilities marks a fascinating pivot where he injects genre-thriller DNA directly into his usual mumblecore-adjacent aesthetics. He plays Zach, who wonders how he went from skating DIY parks and staying up until 4 AM listening to minor-chord punk rock to worrying about mortgage rates, property taxes and the resale value of a suburban investment property. He’s also a dad suffocating under the weight of bourgeois expectation. He’s got the wife, the kid, the house and a piece of real estate he’s desperately trying to flip. He is the definition of a guy who made all the grown-up choices but lost his soul in the process.

When his family packs up for a short weekend trip, Zach doesn’t use the empty house to catch up on sleep or finish chores. Instead, the silence drives him crazy, and he decides to resurrect his ghost. He grabs his old skateboard, hits the pavement and tries to manifest the carefree, middle-finger-to-the-world attitude of his youth.

For a minute, it works. He crosses paths with a younger skater (Arsenio Salvante), and the camaraderie feels like a time machine. Zach is flying high on nostalgia and a cheap sense of victory. But this isn’t a feel-good indie dramedy. An unsettling connection between Zach and this kid comes to light, shattering the illusion of his rebel-without-a-cause afternoon. What started as a desperate grab for youth spirals rapidly into a tense, claustrophobic confrontation with his own class standing, his choices and a pitch-black reality he can’t skate away from.

That’s because this teen is the tenant Zach has been wanting to evict so he can make money off that real estate I wrote about a few paragraphs ago. One curse, and everything bad that can happen seems to happen. Then again, as a protagonist who starts the movie dealing with the massive turds of his cute little baby girl and who only has a moment of affection in this — other than an awkward kiss with his wife, he’s lying in bed watching a JOI ruined orgasm video — and then, basically, eats shit.

Maybe don’t do bong hits with someone you consider your enemy.

See, we all learned some lessons.

You can watch this either in-person or virtually at the Chattanooga Film Festival. For more info, visit the official site.