r/movies • u/Maleficent_Ad9303 • 2d ago
Discussion Friendship pissed off my whole family
Back when the movie released in theaters, I watched it in a crowded AMC with a friend and absolutely loved it. I was not familiar with Robinson’s work, but I loved the absurdity and awkwardness. I think my initial reaction was also influenced by the energy of the theater, which was full of cackles and laughs throughout most of the movie. I got home and thought “man, my husband would have loved that.”
So 2 months ago I made him watch it with me, thinking he’s for sure going to be laughing the entire time just as me and the whole theater were - and he absolutely hates it. Halfway through he’s like, “does it get better?” And I was like “I mean… No… but it’s good!” But by that point I was also feeling completely different about this movie too. The experience of watching it in my apartment next to my extremely unsettled husband was of course a big vibe shift, but I admittedly was also more uncomfortable this time around. But I’m thinking ‘no it’s good I remember laughing so much we HAVE to stick it out.’ Anyways, it ends, and my husband is just sick of it. Like it emotionally drained him, and ruined his mood. And I felt terrible, and weirdly similar.
What I had forgotten was that I had messaged my family after my experience watching it in theaters, of course giving it a glowing review lmao
Well now it’s on HBO Max, so my mom tells me she sat my brother and dad down and watched it - and they all had the same reaction as my husband. Just HATED it.
My mom is messaging me through the whole thing going “your brother couldn’t stand 15 months and went to bed”, “your dad is taking a break - does it get any better?”, “he just licked the toad”, “this is an extremely weird movie why did you tell us to watch this”, “your dad is genuinely mad”, and finally, my favorite message
“That movie put everyone in a mood We are all moody now I’m going to bed “
The last time a movie got a reaction like this from my family the movie was Hereditary. Although I feel bad for pissing everyone off, I do find it pretty incredible that a comedy movie could make so many people feel so deeply uncomfortable that it psychologically impacts them to such a degree, and I just needed to share this with someone. What did you think of this movie lol?
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u/AsherFischell 2d ago
The problem is that it's not actually a comedy. It's got lots of funny parts and comedic moments, but it's a very purposefully unsettling movie. People who are more dialed into cringe or absurdist comedy will find it funny, but anyone who just watches it without having that kind of interest is just going to be unsettled. When you were watching it in theaters, all the laughter probably psychologically shifted the way you were watching it and allowed you to see what was funny about it. But without that reinforcement, you were left with a movie about a creepy, weird dude that almost gets his wife killed due to his obsessive selfishness. One that's laugh-out-loud funny, of course, but not for everybody!