THE FRIEND/FILM
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The Friend (2024 film)
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| This article needs a plot summary. Please add one in your own words. (April 2025) |
| The Friend | |
|---|---|
| Release poster | |
| Directed by | Scott McGehee David Siegel |
| Screenplay by | Scott McGeheeDavid Siegel |
| Based on | The Friend by Sigrid Nunez |
| Produced by | Scott McGeheeDavid SiegelLiza ChasinMike Spreter |
| Starring | Naomi WattsBill MurraySarah PidgeonCarla GuginoConstance WuAnn Dowd |
| Cinematography | Giles Nuttgens |
| Edited by | Isaac Hagy |
| Music by | Jay WadleyTrevor Gureckis |
| Production companies | 3dot ProductionsBig Creek |
| Distributed by | Bleecker Street (United States and Canada) Universal Pictures and Focus Features (International) |
| Release dates | August 30, 2024 (Telluride)March 28, 2025 (United States) |
| Running time | 120 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $4.9 million[2][3] |
The Friend is a 2024 American drama film written and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel. Based on the 2018 novel by Sigrid Nunez, it stars Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Sarah Pidgeon, Carla Gugino, Constance Wu, and Ann Dowd.
It had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and screened in the Gala section at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and was released theatrically on March 28, 2025 by Bleecker Street.[4][5]
Plot summary
Iris is a writer and college professor living in Manhattan coping with the recent suicide of her best friend and mentor, Walter. Through conversations between Iris, Walter’s ex-wives, and his adult daughter, we learn of Walter’s three troubled marriages and his career as a college professor. At the funeral service, Walter’s third wife, Barbara, tells Iris of an issue she needs to discuss with her.
At Barbara’s house, she asks Iris to adopt Walter’s senior Great Dane, Apollo. Iris agrees to take him in on a temporary basis. The viewer learns through implication of Walter’s life as a professor. Iris had been his student, and the two had slept together casually once. While Walter was alive, Iris had been put in charge of writing his biography, but her pace had been slow and plagued by writer’s block. Concerned for Iris’s lack of movement on the biography, Walter had introduced his daughter, Val, to her and pushed that Val contribute to the biography. In the present, Iris takes Walter’s laptop to a technology professional, who recovers Walter’s email correspondences. Jerry, Iris’s agent, presses Iris on finishing the biography, saying that Walter’s sudden death stoked interest in his life as a literary giant.
Bringing Apollo home, Iris faces challenges with the large dog, who seems unresponsive to commands, occupies Iris’s bed without leaving, makes a mess of her apartment and literary research materials, and attracts the attention of the apartment building superintendent, Hektor, who gives warnings of the building’s rules against dogs before reporting her to the landlords. Iris receives notice that she will be evicted from her rent-controlled apartment. Learning of a Great Dane rescue in Michigan, she drives partway before stopping at a gas station and seeing another pet owner bring his dog inside, despite a sign on the door prohibiting all dogs except service animals. Inspired, Iris realizes her landlord will be unable to evict her if she registers Apollo as an emotional support animal. She drives home and waylays her therapist at his office for a service animal referral. He agrees to do so before asking Iris about her well being and reaction to Walter’s death, inviting her to process her grief by having her write a story in which she can speak directly to Walter. Iris’s story is autobiographical, substituting the enormous and burdensome Apollo for a far more manageable Dachshund. She angrily confronts Walter about the selfishness of his suicide, especially the impact on Apollo. Realizing the burden of writing the biography, she informs Walter of her decision to drop the project and instead start a new book based on her experiences with him, leaving the biography to be finished by his daughter.
Time passes, and Val shows Iris a beach house on Long Island. The house belongs to Walter’s family but is being sold soon. Iris is invited to stay there over the summer with Apollo, who, at age 6, is undergoing the early senescence associated with Great Dogs. His arthritis is becoming more severe, and Iris dreads his eventual death. By this time, Val has finished Walter’s biography. Iris stays at the house with Apollo. One day, she sees him lying inertly on the beach. Fearing the worst, Iris approaches before learning that he is only resting.
Cast
- Naomi Watts as Iris
- Bill Murray as Walter
- Noma Dumezweni as Barbara
- Sarah Pidgeon as Val
- Carla Gugino as Elaine
- Sarah Baskin as Mara
- Constance Wu as Tuesday
- Juliet Brett as Sophie
- Ann Dowd as Marjorie
- Felix Solis as Hektor
- Gina Costigan as Jocelyn
- Owen Teague as Carter
- Josh Pais as Jerry
- Tom McCarthy as Dr. Warren
- Bruce Norris as Dr. Novak
- Ian Lithgow as Larry
Production
In February 2022, it was announced Naomi Watts had joined the cast of the film, with Scott McGehee and David Siegel set to direct from a screenplay they wrote, based upon the 2018 novel of the same name by Sigrid Nunez.[6] In February 2024, Bill Murray, Sarah Pidgeon, Constance Wu, Ann Dowd, Noma Dumezweni, Felix Solis, and Owen Teague joined the cast. In March 2024, Carla Gugino joined the cast.[7][8][9] Principal photography began by February 2024, in New York City.[10][11]
Release
The Friend premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2024, and was also screened in the Gala Presentations section at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2024. In October 2024, Bleecker Street acquired North American distribution rights to the film, planning to release it sometime in early 2025.[12] The film was released in the United States on March 28, 2025.[13]
The film will open 2nd Croatia International Film Festival on August 8, 2025.[14]
Reception
Box office
During its first weekend of release, The Friend played in two theaters and grossed $67,629 during the weekend of March 28–30.[15] The following weekend, the film had its wide release and opened alongside A Minecraft Movie, The Chosen: Last Supper Part 2, Hell of a Summer, and The Luckiest Man in America, and grossed $1.6 million, finishing ninth at the box office for the weekend of April 4–6.[16]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 85% of 131 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.0/10. The website’s consensus reads: “Leavening its parable of grief with some adorable human-canine bonding, The Friend is a winsome dramedy that’ll resonate with pet owners and just about anyone who’s experienced loss.”[17] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.[18]
References
- “The Friend (15)”. British Board of Film Classification. March 28, 2025. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
- “The Friend”. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
- “The Friend – Financial Information”. The Numbers. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
- D’Alessandro, Anthony (July 22, 2024). “TIFF Galas & Special Presentations Lineup Includes World Premieres From Angelina Jolie, Mike Leigh, Gia Coppola; Starry Pics With Jennifer Lopez, Lily James, Dave Bautista; Int’l Premieres ‘Conclave’ & ‘Piece By Piece’, More”. Deadline. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
- Hammond, Pete (August 29, 2024). “Telluride Film Festival Lineup Includes ‘Saturday Night’, ‘The Piano Lesson’, ‘Conclave’ & ‘Nickel Boys’ World Premieres”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- Wiseman, Andreas (February 9, 2022). “Naomi Watts To Star In Canine Pic ‘The Friend’ Based On Hit Novel; Liza Chasin Produces & The Veterans Launches Sales — EFM Hot Pic”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- Grobar, Matt (February 26, 2024). “Naomi Watts & Bill Murray To Topline Dramedy ‘The Friend’ From Scott McGehee & David Siegel; Constance Wu, Ann Dowd Among Others Set”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- Grobar, Matt (February 29, 2024). “Felix Solis & Owen Teague Join Naomi Watts, Bill Murray In Dramedy ‘The Friend'”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- Grobar, Matt (March 5, 2024). “Carla Gugino Latest To Join Naomi Watts, Bill Murray In ‘The Friend'”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- Braun, Don (February 9, 2024). “Naomi Watts at “The Friend” Filming Set in New York 02/08/2024″. Celeb Mafia. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- Paumgarten, Nick (May 6, 2024). “An A-List Animal Trainer Prepares a Great Dane for His Film Début”. The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
- Vlessing, Etan (October 23, 2024). “Naomi Watts’ ‘The Friend’ Goes to Bleecker Street”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
- D’Alessadndro, Anthony (December 17, 2024). “Bleecker Street Sets 2025 Slate With Sundance Title ‘The Wedding Banquet’, ‘The Friend’, ‘Hard Truths’ & More”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
- Addie Morfoot (June 3, 2025). “‘The Friend’ Starring Bill Murray to Topline Second Annual Croatia International Film Festival (EXCLUSIVE)”. Variety. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
- “Domestic 2025 Weekend 13”. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
- “Domestic 2025 Weekend 14”. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
- “The Friend“. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
- “The Friend“. Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
External links
| vteFilms directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel | |
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