Reel Review From SXSW 2025: Friendship is a Perfectly Cast Dark Twist on the Buddy Comedy

When Austin (Paul Rudd) moves into the neighborhood, lonely Craig (Tim Robinson) attempts to befriend the newcomer. As the two develop a friendship, Craig’s obsession with and expectations of Austin grow out of hand, threatening to ruin both of their lives.

I’ll be honest here, I am not a big comedy person. Most comedy movies get maybe a chuckle out of me, maybe that’s because my personal humor is more dry and sarcastic, I don’t know. Comedy isn’t my genre and I am aware of that so I went into this movie with relatively low expectations. The trailer and description were both purposely vague, which enhanced the viewing experience, but I walked out of the theater having had a laugh out loud good time.

Tim Robinson is absolutely phenomenal in this movie. His comedic timing is perfect, his aloof demeanor is endearing and frustrating. His character Craig is someone that a lot of people can find parts of themselves in. He tries to hard to be liked and admired, but often falls short. There is a lot of comfort in seeing a character put so much effort into building even a simple friendship at an older age.

There is a lot of discourse lately around the male loneliness epidemic and how men feel emotionally isolated. This is due to a variety of factors, but a lot of those are societal pressures. Warranted or not, men are finding it difficult to connect to one another and Friendship digs into that idea. How hard is trying too hard? How do you reach out to people? How do you get people to like you? Craig exemplifies all these questions with the best intentions, but sometimes the wrong execution.

Paul Rudd is endearing and magnetic as Austin, a successful weatherman with a bushy mustache. He is well liked, has a good group of friends, and admirable job. He has everything Craig admires, and Austin likes feeling as if he is the superior in a friendship. Wether his intentions were pure or not, Austin takes Craig under his wing to bring him on adventures and meet his groups of pals. Some may say it happens rather quickly, but at what point in your life do you throw away the rules of timing and just live?

Craig and Austin’s friendship is great until things start to get out of hand. Craig’s admiration for Austin turns into jealousy causing him to spiral. Attempting to emulate Austin’s behavior, Craig goes off the rails bringing his wife into underground tunnels, buying a new car, and totally disconnecting from his son. In an attempt to make a friend, Craig loses almost everything.

The best way to describe this movie is subversive. There is not a single point in which what I expected to happen, actually did and that made it one of my favorite viewing experiences of SXSW 2025. Robinson and Rudd’s dynamic is so fun, playful, and hilarious to watch. In true A24 fashion, there isn’t a single moment in this movie that I expected. Going in rather blindly is the best way to watch this and just let yourself have a good time. It’s a wild ride with some important commentary about male friendships and offers a new perspective on building relationships.

Friendship hits theaters May 9.