A post-college comedy told with heart and depth, Drunk Bus tells the story of a life stuck in a cycle of mundane misery and the odd angels who provide a new path.

Complacency is a mind state that can be as torturous as any prison. It is where dreams die and the imagination stalls, the equivalent of trying to run through quicksand only to give into to its slow death pull.

This is where we find Michael (Charlie Tahan), a recent college graduate who has taken on a job as campus bus driver for the late-night shift, otherwise known as the “drunk bus” due to the number of intoxicated students on board. On any given night Michael must put up with the rowdy and even dangerous behaviour of his passengers, who often leave behind any number of body fluid as memento.

After Michael is assaulted, he is provided security in the form of Pineapple (Pineapple Tangaroa) a heavy set, heavily tattooed and pierced Samoan. whose straight talking and illuminating life-advice forces Michael to veer off his circular beaten path and experience new territories, often leading to messy adventures.

These involve the usual college comedy shenanigans – wild parties, alcohol and drug use, sexcapades – but under the direction of filmmaking duo John Carlucci and Brandon LaGanke (their feature film debut), and as written by Chris Molinaro, Drunk Bus proves to be more than the usual stoner sex comedy romp some may mistake it for. There is a depth to Michael’s story that makes for great drama, and equally so great comedy, when the sad sap is pushed out of his comfort zone.

Tahan is terrific as Michael, bringing that melancholy and fragility that the role needed, while surprising with unknown comedic chops that pervious roles in TV’s Ozark and Wayward Pines did not allow to explore. The standout though is the very real Pineapple Tangaroa, who plays a fictionalised version of himself as a somewhat deranged mentor figure to Tahan’s aimless late bloomer.

Set in Kent, Ohio, yet shot in winter upstate New York, that snow driven chill can be felt through every scene in Drunk Bus, a moody and moving comedic drama in which the ramifications of a life put on hold is explored with a huge heart and great sense of humour.