One of the final things I latched onto at Grasshopper Film was Friends and Strangers. I’d heard no word before its Rotterdam programming and it caught my attention in an early-year festival crush for no other reason than a) some pleasant stills and b) the promise of an Australian comedy, which had more or less never come into my sight in five years of distribution.
Within, say, two minutes I knew this had to be followed through—James Vaughn’s perfectly lit images of metropolitan life were composed like Heinz Emigholz, its performances willingly stilted, the vibe vaguely threatening. Progressively the thing grows funnier, its direction harder to guess, structure slightly bewildering yet fully determined. By film’s end Friends and Strangers is plainly fucking hilarious, teetering on the possibility of violent outburst, finally a wise statement on personal misdirection.
Cut to one year later. Though I no longer work at Grasshopper—conflict of interest begone—I still love James Vaughn’s directorial debut, now opening at Metrograph on February 25, and am thrilled to debut a trailer that neatly tees up its virtues without giving away the game.
Among our must-sees of February (a little low-ranked if you ask me), it was also praised by Leonardo Goi out of Rotterdam, where he said “Nothing happens in James Vaughan’s Friends and Strangers in the same way that nothing happens in the films of Hong Sangsoo. Populated by young adults fumbling after a coherent identity, Friends and Strangers behaves like them. It is a film of detours, digressions, and everyday surrealism––one that draws its unsettling allure from the angst that comes when you realize the path you’ve walked along isn’t paved anymore, and the future you’re venturing into will be entirely your own making.”
Find the preview and poster (designed by Midnight Marauder) below:
