By Jason Osiason

I went into Friendship expecting a straightforward comedy. What I got was stranger, funnier, and more surprising than I could have imagined. Beneath the chaos, this is a story about male loneliness. It shows what happens when someone who feels invisible tries to fill that emptiness with a connection he does not know how to handle.

Craig, played by Tim Robinson, is a marketing executive whose life is quietly falling apart. His marriage to Tami, played by Kate Mara, is slipping away. She has survived cancer and is focused on rebuilding. Craig is stuck. Then Austin moves in next door and brings an unpredictable energy that shakes up Craig’s world. For a while, having Austin around gives him the feeling that maybe he matters again.

I saw Friendship at its first World Premiere screening at the Toronto Film Festival. On that first viewing I was caught off guard in the best way. The second time I liked it even more. The balance between the humor and the sadness behind it came through stronger. It made me laugh harder and sit with what was underneath longer.

At first Craig feels alive. He and Austin drink, talk, and find small ways to break out of their routines. But it does not take long for Craig’s need to belong to surface. The boxing match says everything. Craig lands a cheap shot and then stuffs a bar of soap in his mouth in front of everyone as if that could fix it. It is funny and sad because you can see how much he wants to be accepted.

From there everything falls apart. Craig tries too hard to hold on. He drags Tami into one of his old adventures through the tunnels but it goes wrong. Tami gets lost. The police get involved. His job slips away. His family pulls back. He keeps chasing the first spark because he does not know what else to do with the emptiness inside him.

The final stretch stays with you. Craig storms Austin’s house with a gun trying to force everyone into reliving that one night that meant so much to him. It is messy and heartbreaking because you can see what he is trying so hard to keep. When it all falls apart he imagines a version where none of it went wrong. That last moment lands because it shows how badly he wanted to feel seen even for a little while.

The comedy works because it comes straight from that loneliness. Seeing Friendship again made that hit even harder. [B+]