Rap World 2024

In 2009, two friends — Matt Conner O’Malley and Casey Jack Bensinger — who work at a movie theater in the suburban town of Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, decide to push a creative experiment: they will record a rap album in a single night and document the process as a homemade film, directed by their friend Ben.

After clocking out, the trio rolls through a McDonald’s drive‑through and Casey pulls a prank that lands on Matt: he asks him to order “mystic sauce” for a fourth friend, Jason Eric Rahill, leaving Matt visibly embarrassed and annoyed by the bit.

They set up shop at Casey’s mother’s house while she’s out for cosmetic ear surgery, turning the space into an improvised studio. Matt makes his feelings clear about Jason’s involvement, insisting he didn’t expect him to be part of the project, yet the afternoon unfolds with Jason recording an instrumental track that the group decides to include. After a tense moment, Matt apologizes to Jason and invites him to join the endeavor, giving birth to a rap group they nickname the Coolbaugh Crew.

The mood shifts when Casey brings a pistol from his mother’s room and the group uses it as a promotional prop for the project. Recording sessions are delayed as they waste time smoking marijuana, letting the night slip by.

Jason sends a video message to Kiera Ruby McCollister, a woman he hopes to pursue, adding a personal angle to the makeshift project and the late-night energy. In search of more material and inspiration, they visit Casey’s cousin Serj [Dan Licata], only to be met by Serj’s mother’s sharp rebuke for inviting friends over instead of looking after his grandmother.

On their way back, they drive Matt’s sister Edy Modica home from work, a reminder of real-life responsibilities that intrude on their carefree plan. The group then makes a quick grocery stop for snacks before heading to a local house party where Kiera is present, sparking jealousy and awkward tension.

Jason, trying to win over Kiera, offers a ring and asks to date her; she mistakes the gesture for a marriage proposal and laughs it off, adding to the rollercoaster of nerves and ambitions that pervades their night. At the party, Matt’s ex-wife’s sister confronts him about his partygoing, challenging his ability to handle his responsibilities as a parent given the recording project.

Back at home, Jason tries to lift the group’s spirits, and Kelsey Atencio [Lauren Servideo] arrives to confront Matt about his behavior. After a heated exchange, the two attempt to be intimate, but Matt is unable to achieve an erection, underscoring the fragility of their relationships amid the chaos of the project.

Hours pass, and the crew returns to the work, finally finishing the album in the early hours of the next morning. Casey suggests adding a gunshot sound to the track, and the trio heads into the woods to record it. In a devastating turn, Jason accidentally shoots Matt in the leg. Despite the initial gallows humor, the wound proves fatal as Matt dies from the injury to his femoral artery.

At the funeral, Matt’s sister clashes with his ex-wife during the eulogy, while friends deliver awkward, incongruous tributes that struggle to hide the pain beneath the humor. The film ends with a montage of home-movie footage and a closing text explaining what happened to the friends and their families in the wake of these events, leaving the audience with a sense of how quickly a night of ambition can unravel into tragedy.