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Caper opens on a routine poker evening among six old friends in Brooklyn, only to detonate into full-blown crisis when Phil mistakenly sends a risqué selfie to his boss instead of his lover. Within seconds, a silly prank morphs into a desperate scramble: hack the cloud, outwit doormen, even infiltrate a neon-soaked nightclub. Dean Imperial keeps the clock ticking close to 90 minutes, so there’s no time for lulls—each scene propels the gang deeper into New York’s offbeat corners.

New York itself feels alive: graffiti-tagged subway cars, shadowy alleyways, upscale lobbies where joy jumps straight to panic. Christopher Tramantana stands out as Chris, the weary theatre director whose quick wit and off-kilter compassion anchor the group’s frantic efforts. His rapport with Asa James’s Duke and Ron Palais’s Phil gives the film its emotional spike whenever their clumsy heroics threaten to tip into chaos.

Imperial wears...

"That's what friends are for," as the saying goes, but it's something that gets more difficult with each passing decade. You know what they say — one of Jesus' biggest miracles was being a 30-something man with 12 good friends. For those who are already in their 30s, 40s, or even 50s, hopefully you still have a posse that's close-knit enough to save your sorry butt if you happen to pull something idiotic at such a seasoned age. Yes, the new indie comedy Caper, premiering at this year's SXSW, suggests that you don't have to be Gen Z to pull a whoopsie and send an accidental text to the wrong person, potentially yielding horrifically dire consequences. That's because the text itself could be classified as something Merriam-Webster defines as a "sext." Ever heard of it? You can figure it out if not.

And what's even sillier about the outrageous premise of Caper...

There’s still one week left in Oscar season, but the film calendar waits for nobody. Days after Hollywood descends upon the Dolby Theater to see who emerges victorious from this year’s awards race, the independent film world will turn its attention to Austin when the 2025 SXSW Film and TV festival kicks off next week. The lineup is filled with major premieres, from headliners starring A-list talent to indies that could serve as launchpads for the next wave of exciting voices.

One of those films looking to make its mark on festivalgoers is Dean Imperial’s “Caper,” for which IndieWire can exclusively debut the trailer. A comedy about all of the opportunities that technology creates for men to misbehave, the sex comedy follows a group of friends who spend a night trying to ensure their gross private communications don’t bring down their careers by falling into the wrong hands.