It could be a hallucination, a dare, or maybe the best possible use of A24 money, but Conner O’Malley—the comedian, writer, and “Rap World” co-creator whose deranged online videos have made him a cult sensation—appears to be directing a new feature for the studio. And for a certain strain of online comedy freak, this could be a gift from heaven.
According to a pair of Backstage casting notices, “Schiller Park” is an A24 comedy film from Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen’s Square Peg, the company behind “Hereditary,” “Midsommar,” “Dream Scenario,” “Beau Is Afraid,” and “Eddington.” A later casting notice described the project as O’Malley’s feature directorial debut. Reached for comment, A24 declined to comment.
A24 has not formally announced the project, but casting notices indicate an Illinois-based production, with roles sought for day players and background actors in the greater Chicago area. An unofficial Letterboxd listing also names O’Malley as director, writer, and cast member, with Aster among the producers and A24, Square Peg, Dogma 3000, and Third Place Productions among the listed studios.
That same listing includes a logline: “A man tries not to hit rock bottom on a road trip from Youngstown, Ohio, to Gurnee, Illinois.” Treat that as provisional rather than gospel for now, but it certainly sounds like it could live comfortably inside O’Malley’s beautifully broken universe of delusion, humiliation, regional malaise, and men spiraling toward self-made oblivion.
O’Malley is nowhere near a household name, but he is a cult sensation online for fans of freak-show comedy. He is best known for a very specific brand of comic insanity: unhinged YouTube videos, memorable late-night talk show appearances, and guest-starring turns in shows like “Broad City,” “Joe Pera Talks With You,” and “I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson.” One recent video, “Irish Zionism” (see below), became a viral mini-event earlier this year, further cementing O’Malley as a comedian who can turn public-access-style derangement into something strangely precise, bizarre, and painfully funny.
He also appeared in A24’s “Friendship,” where he shared an amazingly funny cameo opposite longtime collaborator Tim Robinson. The two have crossed paths before on “I Think You Should Leave,” Netflix’s “The Characters,” and “Detroiters,” where O’Malley played Trevor, Tim Cramblin’s freewheeling brother. And A24 seemed to know exactly what it had with that “Friendship” bit: the studio’s home-video push included an extended garage-scene outtake between Robinson and O’Malley, stretching their hilariously combative back-and-forth into a nearly 12-minute comic endurance test.
That is what makes “Schiller Park” so intriguing. O’Malley is nowhere near a four-quadrant bet, but A24 backing him for a full feature suggests the studio sees the same thing his fans do: a singular comic voice who could turn something niche, abrasive, and strange into a breakout.
O’Malley also co-directed, co-wrote, and starred in “Rap World,” the grimy DV-style mockumentary about three aspiring rappers trying to will themselves into greatness over one increasingly pathetic day. It is exactly the kind of handmade, hilariously pathetic, spiritually diseased artifact that explains why his fans treat him like a pirate-radio signal from the American id.
Square Peg, meanwhile, has increasingly become a safe haven for filmmakers interested in anxious absurdity, psychic collapse, and comedy with a hostile edge. O’Malley’s sensibility has lived in that space for years, only with more Monster Energy, bad decisions, and dead-end parking lots. Put another way: this could be one of the most exciting and strange A24 comedy swings in recent memory.
No release date, full cast, or official synopsis has been announced yet. But given the reported combination of A24, Square Peg, O’Malley’s cult following, and a dark comedy road-trip premise, “Schiller Park” already feels like the kind of thing that could debut at a festival like Sundance and potentially break big with the right crowd. Hopefully, more details surface soon.
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
