There are all sorts of workplace comedy films floating out there in the world, but only one of them is ALL SORTS. The quirky feature directed by J. Rick Castaneda takes the same dry stylized humor of movies like OFFICE SPACE and DRONES and creates its own niche and universe for its band of unique and interesting characters.

The story starts with Diego, a man living in his car who is desperate for a job. When he interviews for an opening at Data-Mart, he gets more than he bargained for with an eccentric boss obsessed with chaos, order, and typing monkeys. He also meets June, a filing prodigy, the woman who quickly becomes his love interest as they delve into an underground world of competitive filing (kind of like that episode of THE IT CROWD where they play “Street Countdown”).

It soon becomes apparent that something is awry at Data-Mart. Something not quite natural.

Castaneda has a history of creating compelling characters. One of his previous films, CEMENT SUITCASE was a favorite indie film of mine from back when we first reviewed it. The people in this movie are written so well and given life by the actor’s diverse performances. Everyone feels like they’re their own person, and not just a character in a movie.

All the little technicalities of this film work. The director has chosen a particular style to work within that includes the age of the technology the people use in the office, the clothing styles, and the overall color palette of the film as a whole. The music moves in tandem with the characters, conveying the tone of each scene as well as the characters themselves.

The pacing can be a little slow, but that’s the slow-burn type of movie this is. They intentionally want to draw the audience in and make them sit in the story world. That immersion sells the more outlandish parts that appear later.

ALL SORTS is the type of nascent cult-classic that people clamor for, but seldom get shown because films like this have difficulty finding good distribution (I think most distributors just don’t know how to market a film like this). If you have the occasion to see ALL SORTS streaming on one of your many services, or see it programmed at your local film festival, it’s worth your time and money to check out.