Friendship pulls Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd into a hilarious and almost horrifying world of cringe

Watching Andrew DeYoung’s Friendship had my hairs standing on end and shivers running down my spine. It’s a comedy, of course, but one that hits that wonderfully terrible threshold of cringe. The film stars Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd as neighbours who develop a quick friendship and then have an awkward falling out. As Craig, Tim Robinson plays a hapless and unlikely guy who finds a spark of meaning and adventure that he feels is suddenly pulled away from him. Suffice it to say, he doesn’t react very well to rejection.

Director Andrew DeYoung has mostly worked in television before undertaking this project. He’s directed episodes of popular TV shows like PEN15, Shrill, A.P. Bio and Our Flag Means Death. He’s also directed several TV comedy specials and short films, but this was the first time he had an opportunity to do something by himself. “For TV, like episodic jobs, I’m absorbing what they need from the show and I execute it in the best way possible,” he explains via Zoom. “In this, I didn’t have a showrunner or anyone looking over my shoulder. I was fully on my own — which is terrifying, of course. You have the same obstacles, you still have limited time and limited budget, with problems constantly arising. I’m thankful for TV because it did give me the muscle to adapt for this film, and I’m so grateful, because this is my own thing and I really needed it to work.”

DeYoung, who also wrote the script, wasn’t sure at first who could step into the role of Craig. “I was about halfway through the script when I was like, who can do this? Tim Robinson kept popping into my head,” he says. “We were new friends at the time when I started writing it and I think he’s the only one who can do this type of thing. I’m so lucky he said yes.”

Despite being a laugh out loud comedy, Friendship defies a lot of expectations from the genre. It has a strong dramatic core and also feels infused with elements of thrillers and horror. Working with the actors, it was important for DeYoung that the actors play it straight. “From the begining, I was like, we’re shooting this like a drama,” he says. “Then once you start working the scenes, you get to see, how can you push this into comedy? But from the jump, everybody begins with a place of not going for laughs and to play this as real as possible.”

The effect on screen is eerie. While audiences familiar with Tim Robinson’s Netflix sketchy comedy series I Think You Should Leave will have expectations for his performance, the movie offers a more subdued presence. Craig is outrageous, of course, but he also seems like a product of the real world. We feel him think through situations and inevitably manage to say or do the wrong thing, but it always comes from a place of emotional or experiential truth. It contributes an incredible tension that might not have translated otherwise, if the film had been played more broadly. Watching Friendship sometimes feels like laughing at a funeral — an inappropriate reaction that paradoxically releases and amps up discomfort. 

Restraint plays a big role in DeYoung’s vision for the film. “I really like restraint,” he says, “especially in our culture that’s so aggressively opulent in its aesthetics or speed, there’s so much noise and so much stuff, that it’s trying to get your attention with spectacle. I tend to gravitate towards things that are more reserved.”

Part of that approach is also reflected in the image. In an era where so many comedies look overlit and flat, Friendship not only has a lot of texture in the image, but plays with cinematic techniques to craft an idiosyncratic and unpredictable filmic landscape. “I find comedies lacking in aesthetic thoughtfulness. I love comedy, but I also love art films just as much. Ever since I started making things, I wanted to combine the two.”

DeYoung doesn’t think he’s the only one going for this look, but feels many are doing it in a “forceful way.” “Without naming names,” he says, “some people fall in love with Criterion and some comedians do, too, and they try to mush their stuff with certain aesthetics that don’t work. In my case, I go with emotion first. I’m just shooting from my gut place and trying to serve emotion. Everything comes from a place of trying to shoot it like a drama; not being cute or clever with the camera and honouring the reality of the characters. It comes from a place of love for aesthetics and wanting to push comedy into a new place.” 

With some of the biggest laughs in a comedy in recent memory, DeYoung’s approach works. “I find a lot of the funniest things come from a place of behaviour and watching people act and try their best in really tough situations,” he says. “It’s also deeply relatable, watching people hide their vulnerabilities.”

Friendship might not be for all audiences, but even at its most ridiculous, it’s a film that consistently circles back to a kind of truth. Its comedy and horror emerge from a very similar space: the fear of rejection and a desire to be wanted. ■

Friendship is now playing in Montreal theatres.

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