Materialists (2025) Film Review

A young and ambitious New York City matchmaker finds herself torn between a seemingly perfect match and her imperfect ex-boyfriend

Materialists is directed by Celine Song director of Past Lives (2023).

Following up such a beautiful film such as Past Lives was always going to be a tough task, it’s the sort of mindset of that you constantly ask yourself “where do I go from here?” While Materialists is not as good as Past Lives and might not be as subtle, there is still a lot here of what worked spectacularly well in Past Lives and once again Celine Song tackles various themes in compelling ways.

The acting all around is quite fantastic, Dakota Johnson gives yet another solid performance to add to her line of work, it’s a bit of a more quiet performance for her but that’s not a bad thing at all. She works incredibly well with Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans (has very strong chemistry with the latter) and the last half of the film is where she truly stands out and gives sort of a heart breaking performance when the film goes into some brutally honest conversations about modern dating and the unpredictability of connection.

Pedro Pascal is great here but he does not get as much screen time as Johnson or Evans, admittedly his character Harry Castillo isn’t as interesting as the rest of the characters around him. But Pascal’s performance is more than enough to make up for it, this might not be one of Pascal’s all time great performances but it’s a bit different from what he usually does.

Chris Evans is the standout of the film, as soon as he enters the film he steals every single scene he’s in. There’s something about the way his character John Pitts talks that makes the dialogue flow so well, he still has that great comedic impulse in him it’s due to him that some of the humor present in the film works at all. His chemistry with Johnson is excellent and there’s some genuinely touching moments between the two. Evans does a fantastic job of matching the atmosphere Celine Song is going for, he’s able to quickly adapted to the tone shift that appears in the later half of the film quite easily and from there goes all out with his performance.

While the writing does have its hiccups at times (some of the side characters could have used more development) and there are moments that could have absolutely used a bit more of a power push. I do think what Celine Song is telling the viewer is done very well. Yes the tone shift during the later half of the film is a bit bizarre, but it works in the film’s favor. The first bit of the film is a romantic comedy and quite a great one, but then the film hits you with this brutally honest conversation about modern dating and the horrifying unpredictability of connection. Some things are too good to be true, it’s a harsh reality that modern dating can easily go from sunshine and rainbows to downright evil behavior in an instant or even on the same night.

Celine Song’s direction is honest, careful and has this quiet power hit. Whether it be casual conversations between Evans and Johnson or the later half of the film that has tons of hard hitting scenes. Song is able to bring the viewer into the film and make sure they are digesting everything that is going on, in most circumstances tone shifts like what are present in this film would not work. But Celine Song is able to make it work due to how very real this conversation is and by painting a brutally honest picture of how connection can go south.

Materialists might not be as striking as Past Lives but I think the quiet approach that Celine Song takes with this film is more than enough to justify a viewing.

Materialists is available on all VOD platforms.

8/10 B+

Eddington (2025) Film Review

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a standoff between a small-town sheriff and mayor sparks a powder keg as neighbour is pitted against neighbour in Eddington, N.M.

Eddington is directed by Ari Aster director of Hereditary (2018), Midsommar (2019) and Beau Is Afraid (2023).

When the clock reached midnight on January 1st 2020, I don’t think anyone had any sort of clue of how insane, chaotic and disastrous 2020 as a year was going to be. Ari Aster’s Eddington isn’t the first film to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic but it is the first to perhaps show how it heavily affected several people in ways that aren’t so great. The film is not talking about being trapped inside your home for a number of days, it’s talking about the people grew this main character syndrome, the conspiracy theorists, the opportunists who take advantage of well meaning activism and absolutely insane politicians.

For starters the cast is incredibly well done here, Joaquin Phoenix plays Joe Cross which is quite possibly one of his best performances. He starts as this small-town sheriff and eventually a mayoral candidate who over the course of the film becomes more and more insane as paranoia and hostility start to occur. His turn to this maniac is both disturbing as well as hilarious, he’s able to capture the film’s black comedy atmosphere that truly makes certain scenes all the more memorable. Pedro Pascal is also fantastic here, he plays the mayor Ted Garcia who puts on this smile but in reality is a few steps away from having a meltdown, his character largely tackles a lot of the fake persona that a lot of politicians put on for the public and Pascal’s acting does such a good job of capturing that. There’s one particular scene with Phoenix and Pascal that captures this as well as a turning point in the story incredibly well, the way the scene is shot, edited and the use of Katy Perry’s song Fireworks is absolutely brilliant.

Emma Stone and Austin Butler are both fantastic here as well, while they don’t get the most amount of screen time (especially Butler) they still leave a lasting impression. Butler plays this cult leader Vernon Jefferson Peak, who may come off as rational to people who think exactly like him but to others he’s insane, Emma Stone who plays Louise Cross eventually joins Vernon, Stone’s performance is a bit more quiet than a lot of the rest of the cast but it’s still just as strong and important. Lastly there’s Deirdre O’Connell who plays Dawn, Louise’s mother an insane conspiracy theorist that is very reminiscent of someone who clicks on clearly made up Facebook news articles and takes their word for it. She’s the person who would say “plandemic” at the Thanksgiving dinner you are with your family, O’Connell nails every single scene she’s in and is one of the film’s best assets. This is largely where the conspiracy theorist part of the film comes in and it’s done so perfectly and really does capture all of the insanity behind it.

The cinematography combined with the setting and the atmosphere are all spectacular. Cinematographer Darius Khondjii is incredibly well detailed and captures the insanity of this film. The film does sort of feel like you stepped into a demented Wile E. Coyote cartoon especially when the film throws its comedy into the mix. The use of Albuquerque and Truth Or Consequences New Mexico is absolutely brilliant, the film puts you in these areas where it’s a bit smaller in scale but that truly makes the last half of the film all the more terrifying. Not to mention that the locations really match the film’s many themes and are genuinely beautiful as well.

Lastly there’s the film’s writing and many different ways of tackling certain kinds of people during the pandemic. I’ve already mentioned the conspiracy theorists so I’ll skip over that and talk about the opportunists, there’s a scene that tackles the BLM protests. While there are people there that genuinely want change, you have people who are simply there to either argue, be performative or want internet fame. The film shows this incredibly well, it shows that certain people will do anything to get fame and claim to be good people yet don’t do anything beyond being performative.

This is a portion of the film that tackles this theme of nobody in this film is talking about the same thing or having the same conversation, the ability to reach other is completely meaningless because either nobody WANTS to listen or flat out does not care. The film shares this as this nightmarish world that became more noticeable when 2020 happened, it’s something that to this day is still very present. Ari Aster does such a masterful job of portraying this in such a grim yet humorous way that when you do laugh you are quickly shifted back into this “oh wait a second this is actually happening” type of feel. Something in our way of communication broke and has not recovered and quite possibly may not recover.

Eddington captures how terrible and nightmarish 2020 was as a year, it’s done in both this dreamlike and nightmarish way to the point where you feel like you are in purgatory. It’s one of the best films of the year and truly shows why Ari Aster is such a master at his craft.

Eddington is available on all VOD platforms.

10/10 A+

The Bad Guys 2 (2025) Film Review

Reformed criminals Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Shark and Ms. Tarantula are trying very hard to be good. However, they soon find themselves hijacked into a high-stakes heist that’s masterminded by a new team of delinquents they never saw coming — the Bad Girls.

The Bad Guys 2 is directed by Pierre Perifel director of The Bad Guys (2022).

The Bad Guys (2022) was a surprise, it ended up being one of my favorite films of 2022 a year that was a filled with lots of fantastic releases. The Bad Guys 2 follows a lot of what made the first film so great, there are times where there is a bit of familiarity. However that does not outweigh the positives this film has to offer.

The voice cast is just as good as it was from the first film, Sam Rockwell does such a fantastic job as Mr. Wolf he brings this cool style that always feels fun and this relaxing vibe as well. Some new additions like Danielle Brooks as Kitty Kat, Natasha Lyonne as Doom/Susan and Maria Bakalova are also incredibly great here. They bring these characters their own fun personalities without feeling like almost identical to the main group, in fact I would go as far as to say that The Bad Girls were effective antagonists, while yes some get more development than others I do think for a film that attempted to go with an “opposite team or person” sort of idea this is one of the times where the film nails it.

The animation is just as stunning as it was in the first film, a lot of what I said about the animation from the first film can be applied here. Right at the beginning there’s tons of attention to detail, the colors all pop out incredibly well and the energetic vibe of it all really ties this whole film into a nice little package. The animation is so well done and even expands the film’s world even further from the first film.

The writing is also quite strong here as well, the dynamic between Mr. Wolf and Diane Foxington is genuinely interesting. Their little banter and bond is genuinely heartwarming at times and makes you root for them. The film definitely has a Mission Impossible sort of vibe especially towards the end when things get incredibly chaotic (I mean that in a good way), there really isn’t anything incredible here when it comes to themes. The film is mostly focused on entertaining the viewer which is not a bad thing at all, the film knows its goal and accomplishes it within a matter of seconds.

Overall The Bad Guys 2 is a worthy sequel to a fantastic predecessor, I don’t think this one is as good as the first film simply because it does feel a bit familiar in some areas. However that does not mean this is a bad film, it’s a strong sequel that if you loved the first film you will absolutely fall in love with this one.

The Bad Guys 2 is available on all VOD platforms.

8/10 B+

Lilo & Stitch (2025) Film Review

Stitch, an extraterrestrial entity, comes to Earth after escaping prison, where he tries to impersonate a dog. Things take a turn when a lonely Hawaiian girl, Lilo, adopts him from an animal shelter and he helps mend her broken family.

Lilo & Stitch is directed by Dean Fleischer Camp who previously directed Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (2021). The film serves as a remake to the 2002 film of the same name.

Lilo & Stitch might be the better than Snow White when it comes to Disney live action remakes that came out this year, but is that really worth celebrating? I will admit that there’s parts of Lilo & Stitch that work well enough, but much like a lot of these other live action remakes the end result is complete inferior versions of the original.

As far as the cast goes seeing Chris Sanders return as the voice for Stitch is great, he does a great job here and his connection with Maia Kealoha is easily some of the movie’s best moments. Speaking of which Maia Kealoha absolutely carries this movie, she captures the spirit of Lilo from the original and has a lot of sweet moments. You can easily tell there was so much charm that went into her performance and she was able to bring that to the viewer front and center, if it hadn’t been for Kealoha and Sanders this remake would fall flat almost immediately at the start. The rest of the cast are fine enough, Billy Magnussen as Pleakley has some good moments but that’s really about it, a lot of the other characters such as Jumba just don’t have the charm or energy of what made them so great in the original. A lot of the character writing here felt very half baked and severe lack of passion, which is incredibly unfortunate.

The writing is strange to say the least, this is an instance where the movie is at its best when it follows the original not when it brings new things into the mix. The character writing is especially noticeably dipped in quality the main offender being the choice to make Jumba a villain, it’s an out of nowhere decision that hurts the movie in the long run. Jumba being a villain takes away a lot of what made his character so great in the original, he doesn’t have that same connection with Stitch, while yes he was technically a “mad scientist” in the original but he was ultimately a goofy guy, the destruction he made was accidental because he was mostly insensitive and mean in this goofy way. Think about it this way, imagine if someone tried to make Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb into a very serious villain. That’s the equivalent of what this movie did here with Jumba. In this movie Jumba is evil for the sake of being evil, he hates everyone, takes away a lot of what made him such a great character.

As far as the ending is concerned it’s a very puzzling decision and really defeats the purpose of the original, not only that but it’s incredibly out of character for Nani. The original had this message of being Ohana which means no one gets left behind, to see a complete whiplash from this movie is bizarre to say the least.

Overall there really isn’t not much else to be said about the live action remake of Lilo & Stitch. It has its moments that capture the original decently well but then you have moments that completely miss what made the original so fun, adventurous and why people love it so much.

Lilo & Stitch is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

Fixed (2025) Film Review

After learning he’s getting neutered, a dog has 24 hours to squeeze in one last balls-to-the-wall adventure with the boys.

Fixed is directed by Genndy Tartakovsky director of The Hotel Transylvania movies (2012-2022) and tons of TV work such as Dexter’s Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003).

Much like a lot of people Tartakovsky was a part of my childhood, if you grew up with Cartoon Network there’s a huge chance that you have at least seen some of his work. His style of animation was always appealing to the eye, the characters were exciting, had some surprisingly well thought out development that audiences can appreciate. Whether it was something silly and fun like Dexter’s Laboratory or something more dark in tone like Samurai Jack Tartakovsky always had a way to tell a story through animation.

So it makes it all the more puzzling on how Fixed came to be, it’s the direct opposite of what Tartakovsky usually does. Which I do understand directors trying to go for something completely different, the idea of a Tartakovsky directed adult cartoon is not necessarily a bad one. But a lot of what made Tartakovsky such a great director and creator is just not present at all in Fixed, instead we get a movie that somehow makes Sausage Party (2016) look like a masterpiece in comparison.

I will say that the 2D animation is genuinely great, it’s a shame it’s used for a movie that essentially boils down to “haha dog balls” or “haha dick joke” but there are times where the animation is creatively used, unfortunately those moments do not go far enough. One moment you have some genuinely striking animation and the next moment you have dog balls shoved in your face. In fact that goes for more than the animation, every time the movie is trying to have a somewhat serious moment it’s always proceeded by an unfunny joke that completely deflates the feel of the scene that just occurred.

The jokes are basically dick jokes, dog balls or dogs having sex, with none of these jokes being clever at the slightest. With the exception of one genuinely decent joke that isn’t sex related, every single other joke falls flat on its face. It’s an absolute shame because there was a lot of potential here, unfortunately when you have a script that feels like it was written by edgy teenagers you can only do so much.

The voice acting is not terrible, but it’s most certainly not anything to write home about. Idris Elba, Kathryn Hahn, River Gallo and Fred Armisen are all very talented actors but the material they are given here is flat out terrible. Adam DeVine as the lead is annoying, easily one of the worst parts of the movie (and that’s saying something) and just painful to listen to. None of these characters have any meaningful development, all of it is cliche character types that you have already seen.

Overall Fixed is nothing but 85 minutes of the exact same joke over and over again, the story fails to invest the viewer and could have easily been put into a 30 minute TV episode. As annoying as Sausage Party (2016) got at the very least there was a creative angle the movie took even if it wasn’t very often. Fixed is basically the exact same thing except it’s not clever and never tries to be. Even if you are a fan of adult animation this is something I don’t recommend.

Fixed is available on Netflix.

2/10 F

Happy Gilmore 2 (2025) Film Review

Gilmore returns to the sport of golf since his retirement after winning his first Tour Championship, to finance his daughter’s ballet classes

Happy Gilmore 2 is directed by Kyle Newacheck director of Game Over, Man! (2018) and Murder Mystery (2019). The film serves as a sequel to Happy Gilmore (1996).

Happy Gilmore 2 asks the question, what if we can throw in as many cameos as possible while also completely taking everything that made the first film so fun away? If that was the main goal here then the movie accomplishes just that, if the main goal was to be a good movie that wanted to be as memorable as the first movie well then it fails miserably.

The acting is all over the place, a surprisingly decent performance comes from Bad Bunny who between his appearances on SNL and this film has shown he might have something with comedic acting. It’s a shame that he had this script to work because the very few laughs from the movie come from him. Adam Sandler isn’t terrible here, he delivers a few jokes but he’s just really not doing anything drastically different from what he did with Happy years ago. If anything this movie really shows that Sandler has not really evolved as a comedian due. The dynamic between Sandler and his daughter is genuinely sweet, but we do not get a whole lot of that here unfortunately.

The cameos are what they are, even when she’s given 2-5 minutes of screen time Margaret Qualley ends up being one of the best parts of the movie. She’s genuinely funny and works with what she can with the script. Eminem’s cameo is also kind of fun in a “so bad it’s hilarious way” that does not come from Eminem’s performance (actually okay) it comes from the way the scene is executed and shot, it heavily reminds you of the sort bizarreness you would see in a Super Bowl Ad. There is a lot of instances in the movie like this and this is one of the few times where it works. There is a ton of other cameos that range from “why is this even here?” to speaking for themselves.

The script from Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler attempts to throw everything at a wall to see what sticks, it’s devoid of what made the first movie so fun. Such as the humor and some genuine character moments, those are completely absent here with so little to go off of. The movie’s use of nostalgia and old clips from the previous movie while somewhat neat quickly starts to lose its uniqueness once you realize that a large majority of it is covered with this feel of wanting to also be a modern comedy that throws cameos at the wall.

The biggest issue with Happy Gilmore 2 is the movie itself feels like a giant ad that is desperately trying to sell you something, the way it’s shot with the obnoxious zoom ins, the shoddy editing that fails to give the movie any sort of personality and the visual language just not having anything to compliment on throughout the whole movie. As I mentioned before a lot of the movie is shot like a Super Bowl ad and while it may seem fitting since it is sports related, it quickly gets old and has no personality at all.

Overall Happy Gilmore 2 is a cameo fest that occasionally has some decent laughs but can’t be saved from the incredibly messy script that has no desire of capturing the feel of the first movie.

Happy Gilmore 2 is available on Netflix.

3/10 D-

The Phoenician Scheme (2025) Film Review

Wealthy businessman, Zsa-zsa Korda appoints his only daughter, a nun, as sole heir to his estate. As Korda embarks on a new enterprise, they soon become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists, and determined assassins.

The Phoenician Scheme is directed by Wes Anderson director of Bottle Rocket (1996), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle Of Dogs (2018), The French Dispatch (2021), Asteroid City (2023) and many others.

Wes Anderson is back again with another incredibly strong film, while in some areas the film very much does feel like what you would expect from a Wes Anderson film at this point. There is a lot of excellent character writing, humorous moments and fun dialogue that ultimately lead into some genuinely touching moments.

The cast like in most Wes Anderson films does a fantastic job here, I would argue that this film highlights that even more than some of his other films. Benicio del Toro, Mia Therapleton and Michael Cera are all hilarious together each in their own way. The father and daughter bond between Benicio del Toro and Mia Therapleton that builds over the course of the film is genuinely touching, what starts as a rough bond quickly evolves into something genuine, there’s some quite beautiful moments towards the film’s final moments that actually does make the viewer shed a tear. There’s this theme of rebuilding and learning to communicate and the film does that incredibly well with del Toro and Therapleton, it depicts this in such a raw way that quickly connects with the viewer.

Michael Cera is hilarious all around, he captures the bizarre atmosphere the film is going for. The build up to what his character is ultimately revealed to be would have never worked if this were almost any other director, but due to how hilarious Cera is combined with being just born to be in a Anderson film the reveal works and makes Cera all the more fantastic. Cera’s chemistry with Therapleton is also charming, fun and is genuinely sweet, it’s something we also get to see build up over the course of the film and ends up being very well developed.

The rest of the cast is fantastic, although we don’t get to see more of them they stick around long enough to have a lasting impact on the viewer. Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Jeffery Wright and Riz Ahmed in particular are a lot of fun here.

The writing this time around is genuinely hilarious, this is perhaps Anderson’s most hilarious film since The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Which I believe is mainly due to how the film’s premise is presented, going around recruiting people to help you in business dealings while being constantly hunted down is shown in this humorous way that Anderson absolutely hits out of the park. The theme of scaling down ambition is shown here in this striking way, too much ambition can lead to crashing and even dangerous results. This is explored quite well and especially is well executed during the third act of the film.

The films final moments I find to be incredibly sweet, not only do we get the beautiful moments of father and daughter bond we have gotten throughout the film. But the film’s themes are tied together in this nice little bow and shows that starting from scratch and a new life can be welcomed.

The Phoenician Scheme is available on all VOD platforms.

9/10 A

Heads Of State (2025) Film Review

U.S. President Will Derringer and British Prime Minister Sam Clarke have a not-so-friendly and very public rivalry. However, when Air Force One gets shot down over enemy territory, they find themselves on the run and working together to thwart a global conspiracy that threatens the entire free world.

Heads Of State is directed by Ilya Naishuller director of Hardcore Henry (2015) and Nobody (2021).

Heads Of State is not as bad as you would think, that’s mainly due to the fun cast, the direction from Naishuller, some decently timed comedic scenes and even some fun action scenes. The movie unfortunately does fall apart due to the story not really being that investing and a bit formulaic, having that said there’s a lot to like here.

The performances are fun especially Idris Elba and John Cena who both play the buddy cop duo very well, they play off of each other and have fun little banters that keep the movie going at this solid pace. The two’s back and forth are great with fun dialogue that does end up giving the viewer a decent amount to laugh at, it helps that Cena and Elba have the charm to make it work.

The action scenes and the camerawork are actually decently effective here, you get some genuinely great shots during the action filled moments. This does not come to much of a surprise due to Naishuller who’s worked on two incredibly well shot and beautifully done films that ooze with the action film atmosphere, Heads Of State has some of the DNA from Hardcore Henry (2015) and Nobody (2021) although on a much lesser scale (which is not a surprise given that this went straight to streaming.) the film’s action scenes are not anywhere near as good as the previously mentioned films but Naishuller is clearly having a lot of fun and does everything he can with these scenes. For the most part it ends up being effective, taking whatever he can to make a straight to streaming action film work. From what’s presented here and considering what he had to work with, he does a pretty solid job here.

The main flaw with Heads Of State is mainly the writing, while it’s certainly not terrible. It’s not that investing and does land in the formulaic territory, the movie does admittedly get weaker as it goes on mainly due to its nearly 2 hour run time combined with the slow pacing (Cena and Elba can only do so much when it comes to moving the film along.)

With that said, Heads Of State is not a bad movie, it’s one that misses some marks but is a fun enough time that will satisfy most action movie fans.

Heads Of State is available on Amazon Prime Video.

5/10 C

The Accountant 2 (2025) Film Review

Forensic accountant Christian Wolff teams up with his estranged but highly lethal brother to track down mysterious assassins

The Accountant 2 is directed by Gavin O’Connor director of Comfortably Numb (1995), Tumbleweeds (1999), Miracle (2004), Pride and Glory (2008), Warrior (2011), Jane Got A Gun (2015), The Accountant (2016) and The Way Back (2020). The film serves as a sequel to The Accountant (2016).

The Accountant (2016) was a pretty solid action thriller that actually became a hit at the box office which is always nice to see a mid-budget film do well. A sequel was quickly announced as expected and well it definitely was not a bad attempt at a sequel, there really is not a whole lot to comment on here. Some people stand by The Accountant 2 being an improvement over the first film, while others stand by this one being weaker and I definitely think I fall into the latter.

What does remain the same is the strong acting, Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal are both fantastic here. The two blend in with the film taking a more comedic approach this time around which actually does lead into some surprisingly charming moments, Affleck and Bernthal just work so incredibly well together to the point where even if you are not really into what’s going on in the film. You can at least how well done their chemistry really is and how much they carry this film.

The film takes much more of a comedic approach this time around, yes there are thrilling and action filled moments but those are clearly not the main focus. You will get a focus on this people trafificking/conspiracy plot (which admittedly is really not that interesting) and then the film focuses on Affleck and Bernthal having a grand ole time at the bar, dancing and chatting about their lives. It’s a bizarre switch in tone but it mostly works due to the film’s ability to transition from scene to scene well.

The final act is your traditional action filled section which is admittedly pretty neat, it’s not anything groundbreaking but there is the excitement factor that’s present and the build up is quite solid as well. The main criticism here is the running time, it goes on for way too long especially with a lot of scenes where you can really feel they are dragging it out for the sake of doing so.

Overall there is not much else to be said here, The Accountant 2 is a sequel that while fun in it’s own way. Just sort of exists because of how well the first film did, I am admittedly interested to see how the third film will be done (at the time of writing this the third film has been confirmed.) Definitely not a terrible film but not one I will ever go back to.

The Accountant 2 is available on all VOD Platforms.

6/10 C+

Friendship (2025) Film Review

Suburban dad Craig falls hard for his charismatic new neighbour, but his attempts to make an adult male friend soon threatens to ruin both of their lives.

Friendship is directed by Andrew DeYoung which is his directorial debut!

The comedy genre is often one of the hardest genres to nail, you have to take a long of different notes into account such as “are my jokes funny enough?, will anyone get the humor I’m going for? What can I do to make my sense of humor or jokes standout from a crowded genre” and many others. Luckily Friendship goes for this very different approach, instead of a traditional comedy it goes for this fever dream like feel that works incredibly well. Sure other comedies have done that before but this film decides to do things differently.

Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd are absolutely hilarious together, the two’s personalities mesh well together and when the film needs them to their personalities clashing against one another opens the door to so many humorous moments. I’m not all that familiar with Robinson’s work, I’ve seen all of his film roles (which is not that many) and only seen very limited of his TV work, so I might be missing some context here when it comes to this is what Robinson’s career has been building up to. With that being said it’s a fantastic performance, he captures someone with a lot of social anxiety and really who really wants to make friends to the point where a normal desire for acceptance ends up being blurred. Robinson gives a chaotic, well acted and humorous performance that truly shows how with a flip of a switch his character Craig Waterman can go from being calm to yearning for acceptance in unhealthy ways.

Paul Rudd is also fantastic, he plays Austin Carmichael a man who slowly distances himself from Craig Waterman which kick starts the film’s main focus. Rudd and Robinson’s chemistry is so much fun. There’s plenty of laughs, dramatic moments and we get some character bits from the two. Carmichael slowly but surely becomes a man with mismatched intentions, there might not be incredibly strong character writing for Carmichael as there is for Waterman. But due to Rudd’s performance it works.

The writing is genuinely hilarious while also tackling some pretty interesting themes. There’s the desire of acceptance and how much of it is too much, there’s social anxiety and how it can be hard to make friends. Plus the film has this main theme of the connections we make as humans and showing that they can be incredibly messy, we have all had a messy experience with someone whether it ranges from an argument or something far more serious. The film highlights these in humorous and actually quite relatable ways, the awkward interactions including some pauses were genuinely funny and quite raw as well.

The direction from Andrew DeYoung has this raw feel that you quickly get attached to once the film begins, there’s moments where the film does take some liberties but the film is very consistently grounded. The fever dream style of humor really helps here especially with the actions of the characters, while not every character is incredibly well written. It’s the humor and facial expressions that really make them work as well as they do.

Overall Friendship is a very solid film that I do think is going to go on to be a classic in the comedy genre, not every single joke lands but that hardly matters when you execute the many themes of the film incredibly well.

Friendship is available on all VOD Platforms.

8/10 B+