Saw a new digital indie film (via iTunes streaming) called Zero Charisma. A low-budget affair about tabletop RPG gamers. And a funny thing happened along the way to it being a generic, stereotype of nerd culture… it turned out to be an interesting character study of an aggressive, angry, unlikable guy that had nuance and gave reasons (but not excuses) for his personality (or his zero charisma).

Basically, he’s a domineering Game (Dungeon) Master for his little group of players and his authority is challenged by a (da-Da-DAAAH!) hipster who joins the group. That’s the plot, it’s the details that lead to some interesting and emotional scenes.

It’s a lot better than I thought it was going to be, and a lot less of a jokey movie about how funny RPG fans are. It’s also distributed by Chris Hardwick’s Nerdist Industries (and IFC) so I guess that lends some cred.

Score: 83