(L to R) Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in ‘Friendship’. Photo: A24.
‘Friendship’ receives 8.5 out of 10 stars.
Opening in theaters May 9 is ‘Friendship,’ directed by Andrew DeYoung and starring Tim Robinson, Paul Rudd, Kate Mara, Jack Dylan Grazer, Josh Segarra, Billy Bryk, and Jon Glaser.
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Initial Thoughts
Tim Robinson in ‘Friendship’. Credit: Courtesy of A24.
There may be no better combination of actor and director this year than that of Tim Robinson and Andrew DeYoung. The former, who stars in and created the cringe comedy sketch show ‘I Think You Should Leave,’ is the perfect embodiment of Craig Waterman, the disagreeable, terminally awkward, and uncomfortable-in-his-own-skin main character in DeYoung’s feature directorial and writing debut, ‘Friendship.’
Also starring Paul Rudd in a typically charismatic yet slightly sour take on the kind of suave, in-control “guy’s guy” that he’s parodied in films like ‘Anchorman’ (which gets a nod here as Rudd’s character also works on a local news broadcast), ‘Friendship’ riotously focuses on the often-strained nature of male relationships in a culture that downplays the value of real human connection and emphasizes the paranoia and one-upmanship that underlies neighborly bonhomie.
Story and Direction
Tim Robinson in ‘Friendship’. Credit: Courtesy of A24.
“There’s a new Marvel out…it’s supposed to be nuts,” says Craig Waterman (Tim Robinson) to his disaffected son Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer) as Craig slumps in his usual chair in the Waterman family living room. For Craig, seeing a “new Marvel” together is the only means he can bond with his boy, who’s already seen the movie and is increasingly disinterested in any kind of shared activity with his dad at all. Meanwhile, Craig’s wife Tami (Kate Mara) has a perfect way to get Craig out of his sedentary routine: a package has accidentally been delivered to their house that’s meant for their new neighbor down the street, and she sees sending Craig over there with the package as a means to get him out of the house and perhaps make a new friend.
And that’s exactly what happens – for a brief time, anyway. Schlubby, dyspeptic Craig trundles down his icy suburban street – located in “Clovis, USA,” wherever that is, and peppered with houses seemingly trapped in the ‘70s – with the package and finds out that the new neighbor is Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd – is Ant-Man in that “new Marvel”?), a slick weatherman on the local news program. Austin seems like everything Craig is not: quick-witted, fit, stylish (to a point), philosophical, yet fun – the kind of guy everyone wants to hang out with. So imagine Craig’s delight when he does just that – a whirlwind courtship, as it were — and is even invited to a get-together at Austin’s house with some other male friends.
But it’s not very long before Craig – whose own boring day job entails making phone apps more addictive for users – makes a buffoon of himself, his own lack of social skills, etiquette, and composure alienating Austin and his friends even though Craig has pretty much fallen in love with his new buddy. Their short-lived bromance turns so sour so fast that Craig begins swirling down a deep drain of his own paranoia, lack of self-confidence, and humiliation, which threatens to drag down the rest of his family and whatever rickety sense of normalcy his life still has.
If this sounds grim, well, it is – kind of. There’s an underlying darkness to this material that could quite possibly be twisted into a horror tale. That impression is buttressed by the general wintry chill of the neighborhood and the dated, drab look of the homes there, inside and out. But DeYoung isn’t after dread – at least not dread alone. He wants to dissect the strange nature of male relationships, perhaps the hardest to cultivate and maintain in a society where honest connection is ever so fleeting. Austin and his friend gather in Austin’s mancave for an evening that segues from support group emotional catharsis to low-key, safe space fight club antics, but Craig is not equipped to pivot and adjust. He’s either going to blow or collapse, hilariously doing a little of both in a sequence that’s deeply uproarious, disorienting, and surreal at the same time.
That’s pretty much the tone that DeYoung and his nimble cast establish throughout ‘Friendship’ – a mixture of behavior both disturbing and hysterically funny. There is heart and real pain in the movie as well – embodied by Tami and even in some instances by Craig – but Craig’s escalating fury and hurt toward Austin, which wrecks everything around him, veer squarely in the direction of black comedy. One could argue that Tim Robinson’s style might work better in small doses – there are moments when one becomes exhausted with Craig’s conduct – but DeYoung keeps the individual gags funny enough and the narrative unpredictable enough to sustain a feature film.
Cast and Performances
(L to R) Kate Mara and Tim Robinson in ‘Friendship’. Credit: Courtesy of A24.
Tim Robinson is perhaps the very definition of an acquired taste as an actor, but there’s no question that he was born to play Craig Waterman. Self-centered, irritating, passive-aggressive, at times almost dangerously unbalanced, and yet oddly vulnerable, Craig is a difficult character to like but one who – through Robinson’s perfectly calibrated performance – you can’t take your eyes off (even as he makes you squirm). Craig’s almost complete lack of self-awareness and increasingly volatile emotional state mask his desperate need for connection, which makes the character as human as he is unhinged.
While Robinson’s Craig is fascinating to watch in a car-crash kind of way, Paul Rudd’s seemingly bottomless well of charisma and comic timing make his Austin Carmichael almost comforting. But there’s a subtle streak of meanness in him that belies his own surface cool and reveals his personal insecurity. While this initially seems like the kind of performance that Rudd could give in his sleep at this point, there is more complexity to it than first meets the eye.
Although this is in many ways a two-hander for Robinson and Rudd, kudos must also go to Kate Mara for also delivering one of the more intricate performances of her career. Mara hasn’t always had the chance to shine, but she does here as Tami, her seemingly endless patience for her husband and general kind-heartedness also hiding deep disappointment, embarrassment, and ultimately anger. Not only does Andrew DeYoung get fantastic work from his three leads, but every character is written to be memorable in their own way, right down to the mobile phone store clerk who runs a drug business in the back.
Final Thoughts
Tim Robinson in ‘Friendship’. Credit: Courtesy of A24.
‘Friendship’ is not for everyone. It’s a genuinely weird movie and some viewers may find themselves wondering why they are investing 100 minutes of their time into a protagonist as frequently anxiety-inducing as Craig Waterman. But that’s the point: we all know someone like that – and we may be that person for somebody else. The movie is about the very real struggle all of us face to forge true, lasting bonds with others through the walls of our own fears, prejudices, and self-doubts.
‘Friendship’ is primarily about men in that regard, but it’s a universal theme as well. And it’s also laugh-out-loud funny, with healthy bouts of cringe-inducing comedy throughout. Andrew DeYoung and Tim Robinson have created one of the more original comedies we’ve seen in a while, and we wouldn’t mind seeing this creative, er, friendship continue from here.
“Men shouldn’t have friends.”
Showtimes & Tickets
Suburban dad Craig falls hard for his charismatic new neighbor, as Craig’s attempts to make an adult male friend threaten to ruin both of their lives. Read the Plot
What is the plot of ‘Friendship’?
A suburban dad named Craig (Tim Robinson) attempts to become friends with his new neighbor, Austin (Paul Rudd), but the relationship quickly goes awry and sends Craig’s life spiraling into chaos and disruption.
Who is in the cast of ‘Friendship’?
Tim Robinson as Craig Waterman
Paul Rudd as Austin Carmichael
Kate Mara as Tami Waterman
Jack Dylan Grazer as Steven Waterman
Josh Segarra as Devon
Billy Bryk as Tony
Jon Glaser as Big Sam
Rick Worthy as Mr. Mendoza
(L to R) Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in ‘Friendship’. Credit: Courtesy of A24.
List of Paul Rudd Movies and TV Shows:
Buy Tickets: ‘Friendship’ Movie ShowtimesBuy Paul Rudd Movies on Amazon
Shinji Higuchi’s action thriller Bullet Train Explosion debuted on Netflix on April 23 with something of a bang, with the movie enthusiastically embraced by viewers and climbing as high as No. 2 in the streamer’s global non-English films list. The movie was another win for Netflix Japan, and notably a breakout feature for the region after it had scored international and critical successes with series such as Alice in Borderland, First Love, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House and The Boyfriend.
A sequel to Junya Sato’s 1975 classic The Bullet Train — a film that inspired Jan de Bont’s 1994 blockbuster Speed — Bullet Train Explosion updates the action to the present day and similarly sees an unseen villain claim (and also prove) that they have placed a bomb on a Tokyo-bound Shinkansen train, that is set to explode if the train drops below 100 km/h in speed. A combination of JR East train employees, passengers, as well as control tower staff and bureaucrats then attempt to figure out a plan to rescue the hundreds of train passengers and stop the train from reaching central Tokyo before it explodes.
On top of its lineage to The Bullet Train, Higuchi’s film will have extra special resonance for Japanese audiences, as well as anyone who has visited Japan, with the central importance the Shinkansen plays in the movie. Bullet Train Explosion is notable for the production getting official backing from Japanese railway operator East Japan Railway Company, a rarity as the organisation is loath to sanction depictions of the service that may cast aspersions or associate it with unsavory issues.
At Netflix’s recent Asia Pacific film content showcase in Tokyo, Higuchi, as well as some of the creative team behind Bullet Train Explosion, spoke at length about the linkup with JR East and the amount of detail the production went into recreating the high level of verisimilitude in the film. Higuchi and the producers were keen to stress that Japan’s legions of train afficianados would appreciate the level of work that went into the sets that recreated the carriages, the uniforms and everything else that was unimistakably a part of the experience of travelling on the JR East.
Ahead of the streaming release of Bullet Train Explosion on Netflix, The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Higuchi about the film at the Tokyo showcase. The filmmaker discussed the inspirations he took from The Bullet Train, what the Shinkansen means to the Japanese people, the making of the film and some of the dos and don’ts from JR East Railway.
First, I wanted to ask you what you think the Shinkansen train means to people in Japan?Why is it so important?
I don’t know what the Shinkansen train means for everybody in Japan, but for me on a personal level, I was born in 1965 and the first Tōkaidō Shinkansen was introduced a year before I was born. And so as a child, the Shinkansen was something that you would see in TV programs and there would be children’s songs about it. It was something that everybody dreamed of, it was aspirational for us. It was the first thing that really let you experience things out of the ordinary.
As I grew into an adult, I would use the Shinkansen more for getting to and from work. And so I started using it differently than compared to when I was a child. And the Shinkansen evolved too, the speed became 1.5 times faster than it was in the beginning, and it allowed you to go to all these different places. When it started, it was just one route between Osaka and Tokyo, then it expanded, and you were able to go everywhere. When that happened, it went from something out of the ordinary, to something that was part of everyday life. Then in 1975, there was the original movie, [The Bullet Train]. The poster showed the Shinkansen blowing up, but when you actually saw the movie, though, it didn’t explode! Because it would be a disaster if it actually exploded, so the characters just did everything in their power to prevent the explosion from happening. [In the film] you see the police, the railway company, people doing everything they can to stop the bullet train, that was something that was very intriguing to see.
[The star of The Bullet Train], Ken Takakura, is an iconic actor in Japan, he played perpetrator. This actor, who we usually saw as a hero, was now a villain, he sets a bomb on the train, and he is shot by the police at the very end. I was in fourth grade when the film came out, and until then I had only seen movies of monsters, heroes and animation. And The Sound of Music! [laughs]. So it was the first time that I saw a movie where the criminal was shot by the police. It was very shocking because I was accustomed to seeing movies with happy endings. [The film] really talked about the injustice that exists in this world, and it taught me a lesson. It was a refreshing experience, where you were able to experience the thrill of somebody actually committing a crime, and then also this real tension of seeing this beautiful Shinkansen being in this kind of situation. So the film left an emotional scar when I saw it for the first time.
Tsuyoshi Kusanagi plays the conductor in ‘Bullet Train Explosion.’
Netflix
Regarding the themes of your film. What did you want to communicate to Japan and also to the world with the themes of the film? What I loved about Bullet Train Explosion is the way that it is a great action film, but also the way it celebrates the things the world loves about Japan, like working together to solve problems, keeping the trains on time, social trust. Did you have those things in mind at all?
From a critical point of view, I think the Japanese people they are on a decline, compared to 50 years ago, when the original film was made. Everything has been going down, in terms of the economy. But then, if we bring you that decline as the core of this film, that’s not going to make anybody happy! This time around [for Bullet Train Explosion], the characters in this film are all people that are not such great people, including, some of the passengers, they all have their faults. [There’s the scandal-plagued] politician, there’s the YouTuber that only thinks about money. There are a lot of these kinds of people in Japan today. And the ultimate character is the girl who has no appreciation for life and no hope at all. Those are the characters, but we made a point of not killing any of them.
Then you have the JR people, the staff on the JR, these are people that seem like they are only able to do routine work. [Tsuyoshi Kusanagi’s character] would have been able to save all the passengers if he was able to kill that girl, but he’s not able to do that. So, it’s really a question of whom the hero is, and that’s the message that I wanted to convey when we were portraying the perpetrator. I think the character that Tsuyoshi Kusanagi played is very representative of the people of Japan in today’s society.
Actually, when we initially came up with the idea of the conductor, his background would be that he would have a family, he had children to go back home to. He would have this everyday life, and he would be stuck in this conflict between his family and his work. When we pitched that character idea to JR in the beginning, they said the scenes where [the conductor] leaves a voicemail on his smartphone or emails his family from the Shinkansen [weren’t realistic] because when the JR conductor boards a Shinkansen, they do not have smartphones with them because they put them in their lockers at the station. They shut themselves off completely from the outside world and their families.
‘Bullet Train Explosion’
Netflix
From my point of view as an American, watching the film what I loved about it is that we’re living in a time when all around the world, trust in institutions and civic society is breaking down. This film really celebrates people doing humble jobs with dignity — coming together to solve a problem. There’s some critique of bureaucracy, but overall, people work together to solve a problem. The trains are running on time, where it feels like social services around the world are breaking down, like even Germany’s trains don’t run on time anymore! Do you think the world can learn from Japan a little bit at this moment and what this film says about that?And the other thing I’m curious about is what else JR said that you could and couldn’t do, and what their concerns were?
I don’t really have an intention of pushing Japan’s message to the world! I’m actually more curious to hear what people think of the film after they see it. When I first went to the airport [in the U.S.], I saw the people who were doing the body checks, and they seemed to be living an extension of their private life and everything was just very free and so that actually was very shocking to me when I first went to the U.S. And I think it really showed what kind of country that the U.S. is. I think there isn’t a need for any country to be like the other. We need to learn and take the good things from one another. And they were throwing snacks! On the flight! [laughs] It makes you feel you can join in, become one of them! That would never happen on the Shinkansen! [laughs] It’s a very small thing, but that’s one of the things that I really appreciated when I went to the U.S., that experience. It’s great. I love it.
About JR and their concerns. I think, because they have so many rules, if we had kept to each and every one of their rules, everything would have been out of the question! In that sense, they really gave us that freedom to do what we wanted. But we really did stay in tune to the mindset of the employees and really thought of how they would react in these kinds of situations.
Zendaya and Tom Holland’s relationship started 2025 on a high note, given the couple got engaged over the holidays, and the Dune actress stepped out on the Golden Globes red carpet in January with a big fat engagement ring on one particular finger on her left hand. Since the couple like to keep the matters of their personal lives private, we don’t expect to hear much from them about the upcoming wedding. However, one of Zendaya’s Euphoria co-stars has shared which role in the wedding she’d like to have.
Storm Reid memorably played the sister of Zendaya’s Rue in Season 1 and Season 2 of Euphoria. When the 21-year-old was asked about the wedding to come, here’s what she said:
People on Thursday, May 8, while attending the NAMI Mental Health Gala in Beverly Hills, California. The actress also shared that she “recently” spoke with Zendaya, but she’s obviously off shooting the new Christopher Nolan movie, The Odyssey, with her fiancé, Tom Holland.
How sweet is it that the Euphoria sisters are still close? Storm Reid also said this about what Zendaya has been like since Holland put a ring on it:
Zendaya also started filming the third season of Euphoria this year, but sadly, we know that Storm Reid was not invited back to play Gia this time around. Reid previously called not being in the show “bittersweet”, but wished the production good luck.
Cast members that are definitely returning include Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer, Jacob Elordi, Alexa Demie, Maude Apatow, Eric Dane and Colman Domingo. Sharon Stone has also joined the cast for the first time alongside Rosalía, Marshawn Lynch and Kadeem Hardison.
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Given Zendaya and Tom Holland’s schedules since getting engaged, chances are they have had little time to plan a wedding, but Storm Reid has a sweet thought about how she’d like to be involved. According to Tom Holland’s father, the Spider-Man actor had “everything planned out” when it came to popping the question, including making sure to get her family’s blessing. While the couple had already talked about the idea of marriage, Zendaya apparently had “no idea” Holland had planned to propose when he did.
Meanwhile, questions are already coming up about the actress’s dress. However, her stylist said that while it will be beautiful, the public will likely never see it.
No matter what, though, we’re so excited for the sweet couple to tie the knot, especially after seeing them fall in love from the outside ever since they were cast together in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Whenever it does happen, it’s so exciting to imagine their famous friends like Storm Reid playing a role in their union.
When it comes to live-action Disney movie remakes, it feels like fans continue to be divided over whether they should stick to the source material or bring something new to the beloved stories we fell in love with in the animated medium. As we get ready for the Lilo & Stitch release date, the director has pointed out one major reason this remake will be different from the original, and I think it’s worth knowing before going in.
The new Lilo & Stitch on the 2025 movie schedule is directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, who is best known for making the A24 darling, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. When the filmmaker spoke to translating the beloved 2002 classic into a new medium, he had this to say:
the footage we’ve seen looks almost identical to the original, these comments from the director to EW have opened my eyes to how the two movies might be different.
As Fleischer Camp shared, in the animated movie, Stitch spends most of the runtime running around destroying things, but in a live-action film, that just won’t play as well. So, the filmmaker decided to spend more time playing to the live-action medium’s strengths, like going “deeper on the relationships,” particularly between Lilo and her sister Nani.
During the interview, the director said it was important to him that the sister dynamic felt like a “real lived experience” and was really something the movie digs “deep” into this time around. As you may remember, during the runtime of Lilo & Stitch, Lilo is in danger of being torn from her sister by social services, and the arrival of Stitch and their misadventures only makes things worse. Check out the latest trailer for the remake below:
Dean Fleischer Camp also shared another element of Lilo & Stitch that he decided needed to be different to work in live-action: Pleakley and Jumba. In the original, they are aliens who wear “terrible” human disguises to blend in (with Pleakley memorably cross-dressing). However, as the filmmaker shared, it’s just not as believable to see aliens hidden in plain sight in live action, so he had the characters wear “human skins” in the form of Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen while on Earth.
We’ve seen a lot of live-action Disney movies over the years, but Lilo & Stitch is the first to be based on a Disney animated film from the 2000s. The studio had not great luck with Snow White a couple of months ago, and its performance reportedly stalled the Tangled remake, but we have a feeling this could be the best one yet from this trend.
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We can officially compare and contrast the two movies when Lilo & Stitch comes to theaters on May 23.
Horror fans have been feasting lately, thanks to the incredible new horror movies gracing the 2025 movie schedule, and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is a standout reason why. The film has quickly become one of the best horror movies in recent memory, drawing critical praise and continuing to dominate at the box office. With that kind of success, talk of a follow-up was inevitable. In fact, one Sinners cast member says returning to their character would be “fucking fantastic,” and honestly, I’m all for it.
Jack O’Connell, who played the sinister and centuries-old vampire Remmick in the period horror hit, recently told GQ he’d be thrilled to reprise his character. And if I’m being honest, I’m right there with him. While Sinners’ ending wrapped up the arcs of its main characters pretty definitively, there’s something deeply tempting about diving into Remmick’s backstory with a prequel. As O’Connell put it:
Michael B. Jordan are game to explore more stories in the Sinners universe. Jordan has said he’d be “up for it,” whether it’s a prequel, sequel, or spin-off. The big question mark, though, is director Ryan Coogler, who, reasonably, seems a lot more hesitant.
In an earlier interview with Ebony, Coogler clarified that Sinners was built to be self-contained, comparing the film to “a full meal” that didn’t leave room for leftovers. After years in the franchise game, it sounds like he was craving a clean break and an original project that wasn’t designed with sequels in mind. Still, the film’s runaway box office success may make saying “no” a lot harder.
Sinners has already shattered expectations and is on track to become the first live-action original film to cross $200 million domestically since Gravity in 2013. Studios typically don’t walk away from numbers like that without at least trying to spin something off.
Let’s talk about what that could look like. Admittedly, I’m apprehensive about a sequel (and, honestly, a prequel). However, I do relate to O’Connell’s enthusiasm about returning if Coogler is also down to do so. I think there are interesting ways in which the filmmaker could do it tastefully while embracing stand-alone storytelling and pushing for new and engaging stories.
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Remmick isn’t just some generic antagonist. The film teases that he’s been around for centuries, leaving much ground to cover. A prequel tracing his origins, possibly set in Ye Olde Ireland (with some more of that gritty Irish dancing, please), could be a clever way to expand the Sinners’ world without undoing the very complete character arcs of Stack, Smoke, and the rest of the crew. That way, you don’t risk diluting what made the original so strong, and you let O’Connell go full vampire menace, which is a win for everyone.
Of course, it all depends on Coogler. Right now, the Black Panther helmer has his sights on a different revival: a bold, possibly terrifying reboot of The X-Files. But as we already know, Hollywood has a way of nudging even the most reluctant creatives back into franchise territory, especially when the fans (and the stars) are already on board.
While nothing is official yet, if Jack O’Connell desires more Remmick and the studio senses potential prequel profits, I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of a Remmick spin-off prequel or even a sequel to Sinners.
Sinners is now playing in theaters everywhere. Be sure to check your local listings for showtimes.
