Friendship

Given some failing or peculiarity in my personality, I haven’t formed many lasting relationships with other men. The suggestion of a “guy’s weekend” sounds like an unbearable chore. Camping trips, watching or playing sports, gaming together online, or even just a hangout with an all-male crew—such typical male-bonding rituals register with me as tedious or entirely off-putting. So, with that recognition and second-hand embarrassment, I watched the events unfold in Friendship, an unrelenting comedy that plays like the inverse of I Love You, Man (2009). In a singular performance that crystallizes the frenzied energy of his riotous Netflix shows, Detroiters (2017-2018) and I Think You Should Leave (2019–present), Tim Robinson plays Craig Waterman, a seemingly average person with no substantive male friendships. When Craig begins to buddy up to his new neighbor, a parasitic relationship forms, and the experience brings out the worst, most desperate, competitive, possessive, insecure, and narcissistic aspects of his behavior. It’s hilarious and horrifying.

This film was screened at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival. A24 will release Friendship in theaters on May 9, 2025. The full review is currently posted on Patreon and will be made available closer to the film’s release. To read it, you can purchase access individually. You can also join Deep Focus Review’s Patron community, where you’ll first receive exclusive access to this essay and many other reviews and blogs published on Patreon.

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