Friendship (Photo – Spencer Pazer/A24)
If one grows tired of the overly commercial, programmatic, and common-denominator-targeted movie fare, I suggest Friendship, whose viewing was a bittersweet balm of relief.
Friendship
Directed by Andrew DeYoung – 2025
Reviewed by Garrett Rowlan
The movie’s central idea is embedded in its title, not “friends” or “buddies,” which could have been reasonably accurate, but the more complicated Friendship, a word that implies an entity, almost inviting examination. The movie, in surprising ways, does just that.
Set in a community large enough to have its own local TV station, the film begins when a misplaced Amazon package is brought to the correct address by a neighbor—thus the two main characters meet.
One, the protagonist, played by Tim Robinson, is a suitably bland ad man named Craig Waterman. With his almost fanged smile and pale hair trimmed to a penitentiary-suitable crewcut, he meets Austin, his opposite, played by Paul Rudd, with thick black hair, a mustache, and a faint swagger of confidence. Austin works nights as a TV weatherman.
Their relationship is sealed during a midnight walk through a tunnel running under the town. The psychological implications (hidden desires, agendas, etc.) are fairly obvious, especially when Craig’s wife (played by Kate Mara) is eventually drawn to the tunnel. Perhaps the symbolism is a little too on-the-nose, but considering the dark places the movie explores, maybe not.
Craig, the square in the relationship, is uplifted by it, reaching a point where he’s “at the edge of life and the view is gorgeous,” before his own neediness sends things spiraling. “You made me feel too free,” he protests to Austin, as his marriage and career unravel.
The film has the creepiness of One Hour Photo, the Robin Williams movie from a couple of decades ago, and the shifting dynamic between the two men even reminded me of The Servant, from way back in the early ’60s.
What I haven’t said yet is that, despite the film’s cringe factor, it is very funny at times, a black comedy, but a comedy nonetheless.
It’s worth seeing in any venue, but I felt great hearing people laugh around me.
> Landmark Pasadena Playhouse, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Downtown Los Angeles, AMC Burbank 16, and Laemmle NoHo 7.
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