Jun 16

Jun 16 Tribeca Film Festival movie review: 'All My Friends Hate Me'

*(Image courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival)*

The dark comedy 'All My Friends Hate Me' (screening during the 2021 Tribeca Festival) combines all the cringe of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' with relentless, low-key horror vibes.

In short: Pete (Tom Stourton) is cautiously excited about reuniting with his college crew for a birthday weekend - but a surprise guest begins to turn Pete's friends against him ... or maybe it's all in Pete's head.

'All My Friends' is unyielding in its quest to keep Pete, and the audience, off balance. Virtually nothing goes as planned for Pete and he always seems to perfectly put his foot in his mouth. And honestly, Pete isn't overtly socially awkward or socially ineptitude - but everything just seems ... off. He's always out-of-sync from his friends, like they're all in on some inside joke and he's the odd man out.

On paper, the itinerary for Pete's birthday weekend is pretty non-descript: he meets up with some friends at a manor in the British countryside for a few days of revelry and drinking. This simple premise makes it easy for the audience to empathize with Pete's discomfort and confusion. Basically anyone can relate to the excitement and underlying dread of seeing old friends, because this simple reunion juxtaposes familiarity with change. Specifically, this is a byproduct of nostalgia - a sentimentality to just reenact the past, with total awareness that time has passed and everyone is fundamentally different then they were in college. The more time that has passed since college, the greater the change ... and 'All My Friends' lives in Pete's concern that he's no-longer "the Skipper" in charge of having fun.

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It's in Pete's increasing alienation from friends where 'All My Friends' is a low-key horror flick. Nothing he does seems to endear himself with his own drinking buddies and everything he says seems to put them off. This flick is steeped in uncomfortable and awkward energy - it's nerve-racking cringe and sinister psychodrama that make the skin crawl with anxiety. The brilliance of the film is how it delicately balances Pete's simmering paranoia with his friends brushing off his concerns, leaving the audience to wonder if Pete's distress is real or imagined ... with neither option being very comforting possibilities.

Unfortunately, all of Pete's paranoias and suspicions culminate ... in a revelation that just seems to come out of nowhere. Honestly, it's as shocking to the audience as it is to Pete's friends - and this is entirely because the script does not seed this revelation at all. The movie establishes his increasing paranoia and distrust, but the final sequence really hinges on Pete's ultimate conclusion about what is going on around him - and it's clear the script just bends over backwards to make everything add up.

Final verdict: The devilishly fun 'All My Friends' takes one man's expectations for a fun weekend retreat and twists it into an unrelentingly awkward nightmare scenario.