The film premiered at the 2020 South by Southwest (SXSW) where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature. It was later distributed by IFC Films that October.
Shithouse provides examples of:
- Companion Cube: Alex's toy stuffed dog acts as imaginary voice in his head, a snarky confidant who talks to Alex through silent, subtitled commentary.
- Desperately Craves Affection: Alex becomes a bit overbearing towards Maggie when she pushes him away after their first night together, sending her long text messages and liking her all her Instagram photos.
- Disappeared Dad: Alex's father passed away before the events of the film.
- Friendless Background: Alex has had trouble making friends at university. He hides his loneliness from his mother over the phone, going as far as to make up a friend and a girlfriend.
- Foil: Alex and Maggie are to each other. Alex was raised in a close knit family and was dependent on them, thus feels lost at university without them as a safety net. Maggie never had that safety net as her family were more distant, she's used to being independent and thrives at university as a result.
- Master of the Mixed Message: Maggie has a Sugar-and-Ice Personality, which leads to Alex getting mixed messages from her.
- Time Skip: A two and a half year long one towards the end of the film.
