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Repo Chick
Repo Chick
from Wikipedia
Repo Chick
DVD cover
Directed byAlex Cox
Written byAlex Cox
Produced byChris Papavasiliou
Tod Davies
Ken Meyer
StarringJaclyn Jonet
Miguel Sandoval
Del Zamora
Chloe Webb
Xander Berkeley
Rosanna Arquette
Angela Sarafyan
CinematographySteven Fierberg
Music byDan Wool
Kid Carpet
Release dates
  • 8 September 2009 (2009-09-08) (Venice)
  • 9 September 2009 (2009-09-09) (United States)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$200,000

Repo Chick is a 2009 American comedy film written and directed by Alex Cox. Like Cox's first feature, Repo Man, it centers on the repossession trade and a mysterious vehicle with a large reward. It is the second of Cox's "microfeatures", produced for a very low budget and given very little theatrical distribution. It was released on DVD in North America and the United Kingdom in February 2011.

Plot

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Pixxi De La Chasse is a spoiled, self-centered celebutante heiress of a wealthy Los Angeles family. After countless tabloid scandals, her parents disinherit her, and tell her she must find a real job in order to regain her part of the fortune. When her car is repossessed, a member of her entourage suggests she get a job as a repossessor, a booming industry among widespread credit collapse.

She is immediately successful at her new job, to such an extent that the veterans are threatened. Gainfully employed, she tries to reconcile with her family, only to find they have given her part of the inheritance to charity. Out of revenge, she asks co-worker Lola to hack their credit and leave her family destitute and homeless.

Pixxi notices a wanted poster promising a $1,000,000 reward for the successful return of an antique train. She finds the train as it is departing with several prominent figures on a supposed tour of a proposed energy pipeline. Pixxi talks her way onto the train, and the hosts, intrigued by Pixxi's celebrity stature, oblige.

As the tour proceeds, the hosts reveal themselves to be eco-terrorists. The caboose of the train contains six nuclear bombs left over from the Cold War, which the terrorists threaten to use to destroy Los Angeles unless the sport of golf is banned nationwide and all members of the federal government become vegan. Pixxi, at various points, manages to escape for long enough to place calls to her co-workers and members of the military. She is asked to put the train on another track, but cannot from within the train. She calls her co-worker Arizona Gray and asks him to reach the switch. He arrives just in time, but collapses before throwing the lever.

Pixxi's call to Gray is picked up by Rogers, her father's manservant. Rogers, now homeless with Pixxi's family, insists that Pixxi must agree to reconcile with her family before throwing the switch. He does, and the train is redirected to Arizona, where Predator drones are deployed to take the train out. The drones crash as the train enters the tunnel, as Pixxi dupes her captor into freeing her, allowing her to free the other hostages and bring the train to safety.

Cast

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Production

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Originally written with a $7,000,000 budget in mind, Alex Cox, after successfully completing Searchers 2.0 for $180,000, elected to produce the movie as a "microfeature", below the minimum line governed by the Screen Actors Guild of $200,000. To accomplish this, he shot almost the entire movie in front of a green screen on a sound stage in 10 days. Backgrounds, consisting largely of miniatures and composites, were added in afterward to give the film a deliberately artificial look, suggesting the entire movie is set in a scale model world.

Connection to Repo Man

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Although billed as a "non-sequel", Repo Chick has invariably been associated with Cox's earlier cult classic Repo Man. Cox shares the rights to Repo Man with Universal Pictures, such that neither can produce a true sequel without the other's consent. Because of this, all connections are indirect, without referencing any specific characters from the previous film.

Several actors from Repo Man, including Olivia Barash, Zander Schloss, Jennifer Balgobin, Del Zamora, Tom Finnegan, Eddie Velez, Biff Yeager, and Miguel Sandoval return in Repo Chick, but in completely different roles. Both films feature plots centering on the repossession of a vehicle with a high reward, which is suspected to contain weapons of mass destruction, and both are set primarily in and around Los Angeles. Beyond this, there is very little connection.

Despite this, Universal Pictures threatened Cox with a cease and desist order, and released the film Repo Men, which Cox suggested was deliberately retitled to exploit interest in his film and confuse audiences into believing it was a sequel.[1] No litigation has followed on either side.

Reception

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Review blog Quiet Earth rated the film 7 out of 10.[2] The Village Voice also reviewed the film, holding a mixed opinion.[3]

References

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
Repo Chick is a 2009 American independent comedy film written and directed by Alex Cox. The story centers on Pixxi de la Chasse, a disinherited socialite played by Jaclyn Jonet, who takes up repossession work and becomes embroiled in a convoluted scheme involving a hijacked train and anti-golf terrorists. Produced on a shoestring budget, the film was shot almost entirely against a green screen in just ten days, resulting in a stylized, artificial aesthetic that extends to its sets constructed from paper models. Intended as a spiritual successor to Cox's 1984 cult classic Repo Man, Repo Chick features supporting performances from actors including Rosanna Arquette and Miguel Sandoval, but garnered largely negative critical reception for its execution and coherence, evidenced by a 40% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on limited reviews.

Synopsis

Plot Summary

Pixxi De La Chasse, a wealthy known for her extravagant partying, shopping sprees, and sexual escapades, is disinherited from her family's fortune by her father, a self-described oligarch, after repeated irresponsible behavior. Forced to seek , Pixxi joins a team of female agents led by Grey at Velvet Glove Admittance Corp., where she quickly excels at repossessing vehicles, including luxury cars from delinquent owners. During one assignment, Pixxi and her repo colleagues, including Aquas, seize a from Matt Diebert, who reveals himself as a CIA agent transporting a nuclear device on a missing to avert a in . In the process, they inadvertently kidnap Diebert, drawing them into a larger involving the hijacked , which carries VIP passengers and is controlled by vegan terrorists demanding the U.S. government outlaw or face detonation of the device. Pixxi pursues the train—rumored to offer a million-dollar reward for its recovery—boarding it amid escalating chaos, where she confronts the hijackers in stylized action sequences featuring green-screen effects and absurd confrontations. The narrative culminates in high-speed chases, hostage standoffs, and Pixxi's resourceful interventions, leading to the thwarting of the terrorists' plot and her personal growth through hands-on repossession work and crisis resolution.

Cast and Characters

Principal Cast

Jaclyn Jonet leads the cast as Pixxi De La Chasse, portraying the film's central figure—a privileged young woman cut off from her family's wealth who transitions into work. plays Arizona Gray, the veteran repo agent serving as a mentor to Pixxi amid the story's chaotic events. Del Zamora appears as Lorenzo, a member of the repo team, contributing to the ensemble dynamic of operatives navigating high-stakes recoveries. Alex Feldman portrays Marco, another key repo crew member involved in the group's operations. The production's independent financing and modest budget precluded involvement from stars, aligning with director Alex Cox's approach to prioritizing authentic, low-key performances over celebrity appeal in this character-focused narrative. This casting strategy emphasized ensemble interplay among lesser-known actors, fitting the film's satirical tone and resource constraints, which relied heavily on green-screen techniques rather than elaborate sets.

Supporting Roles

Miguel Sandoval portrays Arizona Gray, a repossession operative who interacts with the protagonist in the film's central schemes, drawing on his prior collaboration with director from Repo Man to add continuity to the ensemble's gritty, independent vibe. Del Zamora plays Lorenzo, a supporting figure in the group's operations, contributing ethnic diversity and understated humor to the dynamics amid the kidnapping and heist tensions. Chloe Webb appears as Sister Duncan, offering interpersonal friction and through her eccentric involvement in the protagonist's predicaments. Family members provide additional conflict, with as Aldrich De La Chasse, the disapproving patriarch enforcing disinheritance, and as the elderly Grandma De La Chasse, injecting whimsical generational clashes. Rosanna Arquette's Lola serves as a peripheral ally in the plot's escalations, while lesser-known performers like Alex Feldman (Marco) and Bennet Guillory (Rogers) fill out the entourage, emphasizing the film's reliance on non-star character actors to underscore its satirical rejection of Hollywood conventions.

Production

Development and Pre-Production

The screenplay for Repo Chick evolved from Alex Cox's unproduced sequel to his 1984 Repo Man, initially titled Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday, which Cox adapted into a published by Gestalt Comics in 2007 after repeated failures to obtain financing. Unable to revive that project as a feature, Cox shifted to a fresh standalone script around 2007–2008, reworking the motif into a story featuring a dispossessed heiress navigating Los Angeles's underbelly amid economic chaos, distinct from the original's punk-infused narrative. Cox conceived the film as a satire of the , highlighting and practices through the lens of finance giants like Acceptance Corporation (GMAC), which Cox blamed for exacerbating the subprime mortgage meltdown via lax auto loans tied to housing debt. This drew from real-world surges in the repo industry, where U.S. vehicle s climbed sharply post-crisis due to and foreclosures, underscoring causal links between financial deregulation and consumer asset seizures. Pre-production proceeded with independent financing assembled by producers including Eric Bassett, Bingo Gubelmann, Daren Hicks, and Austin Stark, eschewing major studio involvement to preserve Cox's vision amid a risk-averse Hollywood landscape. This microbudget approach, emphasizing green-screen techniques planned from the outset, enabled rapid scripting and casting without conventional backers.

Filming and Technical Approach

Repo Chick was filmed entirely on green screen stages during 2009, utilizing the Camera for completed in just ten days on a single soundstage. This constrained approach resulted in static , with actors performing against backdrops and backgrounds added in via models and rather than on-location shoots. The green screen technique enabled the construction of exaggerated, miniature-scale cityscapes depicting , crafted to resemble intricate toy-train layouts complete with detailed model buildings and rail elements. These artificial environments prioritized a stylized, artificial visual texture over photorealistic depictions, aligning with director Alex Cox's emphasis on experimental aesthetics derived from practical model work traditions. Cox adopted this method as an intentional strategy to circumvent logistical hurdles while fostering a deliberate departure from conventional realism, focusing instead on composited visuals that evoked a playful, scaled-down urban fantasia.

Budget and Challenges

The production of Repo Chick was completed on a of approximately $250,000, a of the $7 million initially envisioned by director for a more conventional shoot. To achieve this, Cox adopted a micro-budget strategy involving green-screen filming of actors over just ten days, followed by the addition of inexpensive paper-crafted sets and digital backgrounds in . Filming occurred amid the 2009 global , which intensified challenges in securing financing for independent projects reliant on private investors wary of economic instability. Cox's approach necessitated improvised scheduling to accommodate limited actor availability and resources, including rapid that prioritized performance capture over location shoots. These constraints led to compromises such as minimal on-set and deferred efforts, underscoring the broader hurdles of indie filmmaking during post-recession funding scarcity.

Style and Themes

Visual and Narrative Style

Repo Chick employs extensive green-screen throughout its production, resulting in a deliberately artificial and flat aesthetic that evokes miniature models or environments rather than photorealistic settings. This technique, necessitated partly by budgetary constraints, creates a kitschy, stylized visual palette sharply contrasting the gritty, location-shot realism of Alex Cox's earlier Repo Man. The garish prioritizes a punk-inflected experimentation over seamless integration, with actors performing against uniform backdrops later augmented with digital elements, fostering an sense of detachment and absurdity. Narratively, the film favors a farcical structure that interweaves heist conventions with disjointed vignettes, eschewing conventional linear progression and deep psychological exploration of characters in favor of rapid, disorienting cuts during action sequences. This scattershot approach emphasizes thematic whimsy and satirical excess, aligning with Cox's subversive storytelling hallmarks seen in his prior works, where coherence yields to chaotic energy and visual punch. The result is a narrative that unfolds as a series of escalating absurdities, with rhythms that accelerate tension through abrupt transitions rather than building via traditional continuity.

Satirical Content and Social Commentary

Pixxi De La Chasse's mocks elite entitlement by depicting the heiress's fall from inherited luxury—disinherited from a $77 million family fortune due to her wild partying, , and sexual escapades—into the gritty world of work, where she must earn her keep through asset recovery. This shift underscores as a corrective to unearned privilege, portraying repo labor as a merit-driven response to personal and familial financial ruin amid broader economic distress like the . The kidnapping plot satirizes criminal intertwined with bureaucratic dysfunction, as Pixxi's pursuit of a $1 million reward for repossessing an antique train draws her into a scheme with anti-golf vegan terrorists threatening , exaggerating repo industry realities of enforcing asset recovery against evasive debtors. While grounded in legitimate practices like high-stakes repossessions during foreclosures, the narrative inflates these into city-endangering absurdity, critiquing how economic desperation fosters outlandish schemes without delving into verifiable institutional failures. Repo Chick eschews overt political lectures, instead valorizing the hustle of as entrepreneurial adaptation to recessionary hardship, such as widespread defaults satirizing the banking crisis. This implicit endorsement of bottom-up survival contrasts passive entitlement but includes unsubstantiated , like train repossessions in an apocalyptic setting, to lampoon class divides and economic volatility rather than offer prescriptive realism.

Relation to Repo Man

Repo Chick shares core thematic elements with Repo Man, particularly the use of automobile as a for economic disenfranchisement and in contemporary . In both films, the repo trade serves as a gritty entry point into the , where characters navigate a chaotic urban landscape marked by debt, transience, and institutional indifference; for instance, Repo Man's protagonist embodies the punk disillusionment of repo work amid corporate exploitation, a motif echoed in Repo Chick's depiction of as a forced adaptation to financial . Recurring motifs include anti-authority pursuits and a rebellious ethos akin to punk irreverence, with high-stakes chases highlighting resistance against bureaucratic and corporate powers. Repo Man's anarchic car repossessions and evasion of parallel Repo Chick's sequences of vehicular confrontations, reinforcing a shared of authority's overreach in everyday . These elements draw from Alex Cox's personal experience in the repo industry, framing it as a lens for broader societal estrangement without advancing Repo Man's plot. The films hint at a through archetypal characters—such as jaded repo operatives and fringe societal outcasts—and the recurring setting of economic margins, evoking a continuity of cultural undercurrents rather than explicit ties. Cox has described Repo Chick as a "non-sequel" that explores analogous trades and motifs independently, stating it is "another story all together" while retaining the alienating essence of repo life. This approach establishes conceptual without direct plot continuity, prioritizing thematic resonance over sequential linkage.

Departures and Innovations

Repo Chick shifts from the live-action, location-based filming of Repo Man, which captured a raw punk aesthetic in , to a predominantly green-screen production that enables abstracted, cartoon-like visuals on a constrained budget of approximately $500,000. This approach, involving actors performing against chroma-key backdrops with post- compositing, innovates by prioritizing stylistic experimentation over naturalistic grit, resulting in a detached, theatrical presentation distinct from its predecessor's street-level immediacy. The film's satirical elements evolve from Repo Man's critique of Cold War-era nuclear paranoia and consumer excess to incorporate contemporary concerns such as widespread indebtedness and repossession amid the post-2008 financial downturn, reflecting heightened economic precarity in the late 2000s. This update aligns the narrative with recession-driven repo practices, diverging from the earlier film's focus on suburban alienation and government secrecy. In contrast to Repo Man's emphasis on the solitary arc of protagonist , a disillusioned punk navigating independently, Repo Chick introduces a central character, Pixxi—a privileged forced into the trade—and centers her story around an entourage of accomplices, fostering ensemble-driven interactions over individual anti-hero isolation. This structural change marks a and relational departure, expanding the world to include collaborative heists and .

Release and Distribution

Premiere and Initial Release

Repo Chick had its world premiere on September 8, 2009, at the 66th , marking the film's initial public screening. This festival appearance provided early international exposure for the independently produced comedy, directed by . In the United States, the film followed with a limited theatrical rollout, including screenings in New York and beginning in January 2011. This constrained cinema presence reflected its distribution through niche channels rather than major studio networks. Subsequent home video availability expanded accessibility, with DVD and Blu-ray editions released on February 8, 2011, via distributor CAV. The film later appeared on streaming platforms such as and received a television broadcast on in the , further disseminating it to audiences beyond initial festival and limited theater circuits.

Commercial Performance

Repo Chick generated negligible box office revenue, with reported grosses of $0 in the United States, , and globally, due to its constrained distribution as a low-budget lacking major studio backing or marketing. The production, completed for approximately $200,000 using greenscreen techniques over 10 days, premiered at the on September 6, 2009, but did not secure wide theatrical play. A limited U.S. release followed in January 2011, confined to select art house screenings in New York and , further limiting audience reach amid the film's niche, experimental aesthetic. Subsequent home video distribution provided the primary commercial avenue, with DVD and Blu-ray editions issued on February 8, 2011, alongside ongoing digital rental and purchase options on Amazon Video. Specific sales or rental figures remain unavailable, though availability persists without free streaming platforms, highlighting indie constraints over broad . In comparison to Repo Man, which parlayed modest initial earnings into enduring cult viability through punk-era resonance and word-of-mouth, Repo Chick experienced slower uptake, hampered by its stylized, less accessible visuals and post-2008 recession timing for indie releases. This trajectory reflects causal barriers in indie filmmaking, where stylistic innovation often cedes to distribution hurdles absent of superior audience metrics.

Reception and Analysis

Critical Reviews

On aggregate, Repo Chick received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, earning a 40% approval rating on based on 15 reviews. The film's score stands at 33 out of 100, derived from six reviews, with one positive, one mixed, and four negative assessments. Critics praised Alex Cox's visual ambition, particularly his resourceful use of green-screen compositing to evoke a stylized, artificial world amid budgetary constraints, likening it to a "dime-store" aesthetic that underscores the film's satirical detachment from reality. One reviewer noted that, despite its unorthodox production, Cox "manages to keep the cheese factor low," allowing the film's inherent absurdity to remain watchable without devolving into outright camp. Niche outlets appreciated the satirical edge targeting and , viewing the manic, tone as a bold, if flawed, extension of Cox's punk-inflected worldview. However, mainstream critiques highlighted execution flaws, including scattershot plotting and a lack of cohesive wit, with describing the narrative as "tired and more scattershot than usual for ." The New York Times faulted the lead performance by Jaclyn Jonet as "personality-free," arguing it undermined the extreme on foreclosure-era excess from the outset. Variety acknowledged the "wacky blend" of leftist politics, garish visuals, and overacting but implied the result felt more chaotic than incisive, failing to cohere into effective commentary. These assessments collectively pointed to underdeveloped characters and tonal inconsistencies as barriers to broader appeal.

Audience and Cult Following

Audience reception to Repo Chick has been notably polarized, as reflected in user ratings on platforms such as and . On , the film holds an average rating of 3.7 out of 10 based on 856 user votes, with many reviews criticizing its incoherence and lack of cohesion, often describing it as one of the worst films encountered or a waste of time. Similarly, users rate it 2.9 out of 5 from 516 ratings, where detractors highlight a dismal script and poor execution, while a subset appreciates its absurdity and "charm" in low-budget elements like subpar CGI, viewing it as "so bad it's good" for those tolerant of experimental flaws. This divide often manifests between fans of Cox's earlier work, particularly Repo Man (1984), and newcomers unfamiliar with his style. Devotees of the original express disappointment over Repo Chick's departure from its predecessor's punk-infused energy, seeing it as an unworthy quasi-sequel lacking comparable wit or impact, whereas some Cox enthusiasts maintain a small but dedicated appreciation for its anti-commercial ethos and satirical edge, manifested in its green-screen production born from funding constraints. Despite these pockets of loyalty, Repo Chick has not achieved widespread cult status akin to Repo Man, as evidenced by forum discussions on where it garners sporadic mentions amid praise for the original but little independent fervor or communal revisitation. Its niche appeal remains confined primarily to Cox completists valuing thematic continuity in his critique of over broad accessibility.

Retrospective Assessments

In subsequent evaluations, Repo Chick's attempted on economic instability, including amid the , has been characterized as prescient in theme but lacking depth and impact, with critics noting failed integration of -related motifs into the plot. For instance, a 2011 Time Out review described the references as "toothless digs," underscoring how the film's broad strokes on and banking failed to deliver sharp critique despite timely release during ongoing fallout. Similarly, the observed that director Alex Cox's efforts to link and economic woes "miss the mark," reflecting a consensus that the prioritized visual eccentricity over substantive analysis of persistent issues. Critiques of pacing and structure have endured in post-DVD analyses from the early , with reviewers highlighting a scattershot narrative that overwhelms its chaotic energy without achieving cohesion. Slant Magazine's 2011 assessment labeled the film "tired and more scattershot than usual for ," attributing disjointed rhythm to overreliance on rapid gags and artificial sets, which diluted satirical intent. echoed this, noting that "slapstick verbal and visual gags come fast and furious, but lack the desired satirical wit," a flaw compounded by green-screen production choices aimed at circumventing budget limits but resulting in a textureless aesthetic. These elements positioned Repo Chick within early digital indie experimentation, where micro-budget filmmakers like Cox innovated with virtual sets to enable independent production, though outcomes were often critiqued for prioritizing novelty over polish. Viewership data indicates sustained but modest niche interest without mainstream resurgence, as evidenced by ' 40% Tomatometer score from 15 aggregated critic reviews and an user rating of 3.7/10 based on 856 votes, figures stable into the 2020s with no reported spikes from streaming platforms. Availability remains limited to rental or purchase on services like Amazon Video, lacking free streaming options that might drive broader rediscovery, consistent with its failure to cultivate a audience akin to Cox's earlier Repo Man.

Legacy

Influence and Adaptations

Repo Chick demonstrated Alex Cox's innovative application of green-screen technology across every shot, employing digital composites, live-action plates, and miniatures to construct backgrounds on a micro-budget, a technique highlighted in critiques of his later experimental works but with limited broader adoption in low-budget filmmaking. This approach, necessitated by financial constraints, positioned the film within discussions of Cox's oeuvre as a precursor to economical strategies in independent cinema, though no direct influences on subsequent green-screen satires have been documented. The film originated from Cox's unproduced sequel script to Repo Man, which he adapted into a before realizing it as Repo Chick, serving as a self-contained rather than spawning further derivatives or major remakes. No theatrical, televisual, or literary adaptations of Repo Chick itself have emerged, reflecting its niche status within Cox's punk-inflected universe rather than catalyzing adaptations or trends in repossession-themed narratives. Released in amid the global , Repo Chick's focus on mirrored the real-world spike in U.S. vehicle repossessions, which exceeded 1.4 million annually by due to widespread defaults on auto loans and foreclosures. This parallel underscored the film's satirical commentary on economic disparity and industry practices, contributing to a minor wave of repo-centric media portrayals in the post-crisis era, though without verifiable causal impact on titles like reality series exploring the sector.

Director's Perspective and Context

Following the critical and commercial failure of Walker (1987), which led to Cox's effective by major Hollywood studios, he shifted toward independent filmmaking with constrained resources, often working outside the U.S. system in locations like and producing low-budget features to maintain artistic autonomy. This post-Repo Man (1984) phase prioritized self-financed or minimally backed projects over mainstream viability, as Cox navigated persistent funding shortages that precluded large-scale productions. Cox conceived Repo Chick (2009) as a thematic extension of Repo Man's repossession motifs, reimagining them for the 2008 credit crunch era, where a privileged engages in asset seizures amid economic upheaval. He described it not as a direct but as an overwrite of the original's narrative to depict concentrated elite power, contrasting the 1980s punk ethos with contemporary entitlement dynamics. Production constraints shaped its execution: filmed almost entirely on green screen with actors on a soundstage and miniature sets for vehicles and environments, enabling completion despite limited financing. In interviews, Cox framed the film as a pragmatic response to Hollywood's sequel-driven excess, criticizing corporate franchises like Transformers for prioritizing spectacle and revenue over substance, while affirming Repo Chick's standalone accessibility without prerequisite viewing of Repo Man. This approach underscored his career-long commitment to independence, where budgetary innovation—such as 95% green-screen reliance—served causal necessity over aesthetic choice, allowing critique of systemic financial predation without industry reliance.

References

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