Behold: Meg Stalter Is Now a Freaking Genius Movie Star

When viewers first meet aspiring indie musician Cora (Meg Stalter) in Cora Bora, a new indie comedy premiering out of SXSW, she’s on stage at a seedy Los Angeles nightclub, singing a lilting, self-written tune called, “Dreams Are Stupid, and So Are You.” Well, it’s either that or, “All Those Who Wander Are Totally Fucking Lost.” It’s hard to be sure. She can’t quite figure out where to put the emphasis in her performance, a far cry from the film’s opening credit montage, where Cora and her former bandmates brought down the house at a gig a few years back.

Cora, like almost every other twenty-to-thirty-something, is doing all she can to not feel like she’s floundering. Her move down the coast from Portland to Los Angeles was abrupt, but it was her only choice if she wanted to keep her own momentum going. But an onslaught of bookings at hipster coffee shops and shitty bars has all but crushed her. Still, that’s something she’s unwilling to accept, even if her lunch is forkfuls of tuna from the can, and her booze and weed come from house parties in the Valley that she stumbles into after some tangential invite.

The sheer lack of confidence on display from Cora may come as a surprise to viewers who know Stalter from her wildly funny, breakout comedy sketches on Instagram. Millions of views and endless memes brought Stalter to the first two seasons of Hacks, where she shined among a group of seasoned performers, effortlessly holding her own against Jean Smart. While Cora shares flashes of Stalter’s awkward, ultra-specific brand of comedic delivery, she’s much more shaded when compared to the wackadoo personas you might find on her Instagram account. (Hi, gay!)

Read more at The Daily Beast.