Love, friendship, mortality, and dessert all come together in a new tearjerker, based cookbook by author Audrey Shulman. Sitting in Bars with Cake is currently available in Australia and now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Introverted Jane (Yara Shahidi) and outgoing Corinne (Odessa A’zion) have been all but inseparable besties since they met way back in the second grade. With Jane struggling to navigate the Los Angeles dating scene, the two hit on an unusual, left of centre strategy: talented baker Corinne starts taking homemade cakes to various bars in hopes of snaring a soulmate. Incredibly, this is a real thing called “cakebarring”.
The two commit to the bit for a year, field-testing the theory that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Unfortunately, their plan is derailed when sparky Corinne is diagnosed with life-threatening cancer. But she’s still determined to help her BFF find true love. What begins as a romantic comedy pivots to an examination of close platonic love in the face of mortality.
Directed by Trish Sie, who previously gave us Step Up: All In, Pitch Perfect 3, and The Sleepover, Sitting in Bars with Cake is written by original writer Audrey Shulman, who based her book on her own experiences.
Bette Midler co-stars, rather appropriately since the film has drawn favourable comparisons to classic galpal weepie Beaches. Joining her are Ron Livingston, Martha Kelly, Maia Mitchell, Charlie Morgan Patton, Simone Recasner, Rish Shah, Aaron Dominguez, Will Ropp, Adina Porter, and Navid Negahban.
Shot on location in some of Los Angeles’ most iconic bars (and the odd hospital room), Sitting in Bars with Cake promises to be a moving mix of fun, friendship, romance, and heartbreak. You know what you’re getting into with this sort of thing, so make sure the tissue box is close at hand, and dig in.
