Review: FRIENDSHIP is a Cringe-Fueled Comedy Fever Dream That Was Hilarious

I went into Friendship knowing it was going to be awkward. Like, deeply awkward and strange. But I was still not prepared for just how intensely cringe-inducing it would get. There were moments so uncomfortable I literally had to look away. I couldn’t watch!

And yet, through all the squirming, I was laughing my ass off. Somehow, this dark comedy manages to weaponize discomfort in the funniest way possible. It’s one of the rare movies that had me laughing harder than anything I’ve seen in a long time.

Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson are a match made in unhinged comedy heaven. Rudd plays it cool and enigmatic as Austin, a charming new neighbor, while Robinson turns in a beautifully unfiltered performance as Craig, a man whose social desperation bleeds through every word and movement.

The thing about Robinson is that he doesn’t come off like he’s trying to be funny, he just is. He commits so hard to his weird, volatile character that you’re not sure whether to laugh, cry, or both.

Even though the film is written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, you can absolutely feel Robinson’s fingerprints all over it. The tone, the rhythm, the way scenes spiral into total chaos, it’s all very in line with the kind of comedy he’s become known for.

That anxious, almost manic energy gives the movie its pulse. It never lets you settle. You’re either tensed up, waiting for the next social misfire, or doubled over from how far it pushes a bit.

At its core, Friendship is a wild, laugh-until-you-cry nightmare about male bonding gone very, very wrong. What starts as a quirky bromance fueled by late-night adventures, garage punk, and an oddly specific passion for paleolithic relics turns into something way more deranged.

One minute you’re smiling at a sweet moment of connection; the next, you're watching Craig spiral so far out of control, you're genuinely concerned for everyone involved.

The movie plays like a suburban noir filtered through a blender of midlife dread and existential comedy. It's sharp, it’s weird, and it’s not afraid to be aggressively uncomfortable.

But there’s also something deeply relatable buried under the absurdity. That gnawing feeling of loneliness, the desperate urge to connect with someone—anyone—and the way people can completely unravel when that connection slips through their fingers. It’s all there, wrapped in layers of insanity.

Friendship isn’t going to work for everyone. If you don’t have a taste for humor that lives and dies on social disaster and secondhand embarrassment, you might spend the whole film squirming without the payoff.

But for those of us who enjoy our comedy weird, raw, and painfully human, this is a blast. It's a total trainwreck in the best way—and I couldn't look away. Except when I absolutely had to.