Friendship (2024)

Friendship is a buddy comedy where the buddy is the horror. Tim Robinson plays Craig, who does marketing in Clovis, New Mexico, and whose wife Tami can’t get him to talk about anything real, and Paul Rudd plays Austin, the cool new neighbor and local TV weatherman who invites him over. One night of music and a secret tunnel under city hall, and Craig latches on like a barnacle. Then something goes wrong, and Craig keeps making it worse. Robinson takes his trademark cringe comedy and stretches it to feature length without it snapping, and Rudd plays a guy who’s friendly right up to a point. Andrew DeYoung shoots it like an art film, which makes the awkward moments land even harder. The catch: it’s stressful on purpose, and if secondhand embarrassment makes your skin crawl, 100 minutes will feel like a double shift. It made $16.5 million worldwide. A 7.2 because it’s hilarious and painful to watch, both on purpose. $3,541 says you overthink the next text you send to a new friend and rewrite it twice.

What works: Robinson commits completely to Craig’s awkwardness, Rudd’s easygoing Austin is the right foil, and the arty, deadpan staging makes every bad moment funnier.

What doesn’t: The cringe never lets up, so viewers who don’t love squirm comedy will find long stretches more stressful than funny.

Who it’s for: People who love cringe comedy and have ever tried way too hard to make a new friend.