The Friend

Reading the reviews a lot of people complain about how the time line jumps. I'm not sure the story could be told in a linear manner and not be even more confusing and less engaging. Not all events in our lives are exactly memorable until we look back at the decisions that led up to them. I realize this isn't traditional story telling but I know I don't always looks at the events in my life chronologically. This is the story of how 3 separate lives are intertwined, twisting and turning back on one another. If the movie was edited to present the same scenes in the order they happened I think it would be predictable and very sad.

A movie that accomplished something that not many movies can....getting me emotional. I don't know what broke my heart more, the plot of the movie, that it was a real story or that the cinema was literally empty for this hidden gem!

This is my favourite film so far at the LFF. Sure, it has a pretty amazing cast, which I guess wasn't cheap, but it proves again that all you need for a great movie is a great, gripping and authentic story. Sadly, a movie like Transformers will always be more successful at the box office, but this is an industry problem. I can just recommend EVERYONE to check this movie out!

It showcases the importance of real good friends, love, compassion, death, grief, guilt, family, society and community. The fact, that this is a real story helps a lot, though I am not sure how much was added for dramatical reasons, this movie felt honest and authentic during its whole run. Yes, it is a very slow paced movie, but this is exactly what it needs to showcase the problems the characters are facing.

Beautifully written and amazingly acted, this is one of the best movies I have seen this year and I fear, that it will fall off the radar of many people, so please watch it and spread the word! These stories need to be told, shown and experienced. Sure it's not an easy watch, but its absolutely worth it, trust me!

Everything filmmaking should be. The characters were natural, honest, engaging, the story had meaning and depth, the delivery was honest and believable, and the story was one worth telling about the human condition. The topic was heavy, but, it was told in such a way that it didn't over sell or over dramatise the events and it was engaging and entertaining throughout.

Films of this quality are sadly few and far between. An exceptional effort by all the cast and crew. The 5 central characters especially.

I read several of the reviews here before watching the film myself. The one criticism I found was the time jumping back and forth and how it was hard to follow. I didn't find it hard to follow at all, and I appreciated the time jumping. In my opinion it serves a purpose to give the audience a breath of fresh air from the heavy, depressing moments. Imagine if all of the incredibly sad scenes we're compiled together in the last 45 minutes to an hour as opposed to broken up by the more light hearted moments intermittently throughout. This movie is fantastic and I wouldn't change one detail about it. One of the best I've seen in a while. It is incredibly sad though. Warning to anybody who has ever dealt with cancer. It's rough.

This is an absolutely wonderful movie and deserves a plethora of Oscar nominations (including for all three lead actors). Why in the world did this sit unreleased since premiering at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival? And why/how did a major distributer (Paramount, Fox-Searchlight, Netflix!) NOT pick it up? I'm stumped. And depressed. Maybe it's even worse out there for non-franchise/comic book movies than even I thought it was.