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Tribeca Film Festival 2026: That Friend Review

By Matthew Passantino

Everyone has that friend in their life. There's always that one person who has been there through many different seasons of life but as one friend moves forward, that friend tries to stay standing still and refuses to believe the people around them are maturing and progressing with life. It's hard to see life change right before your eyes, because sometimes it's easy to think how good things would be if they just stayed the same.

Will Sterling and Alex Wall's "That Friend" (the pair co-wrote and co-directed the movie together) operates in familiar territory, while delivering a relatable message. It doesn't matter if someone doesn't want life to change because it's going to, regardless. Paul (Harvey Guillén) finds this out the hard way when he crashes his friend Henry's (Josh Brener) romantic getaway with his new girlfriend Penny (Billie Lourd).

Paul was supposed to meet some friends in Joshua Tree, but when those plans fall through he winds up tagging along with Henry and Penny, much to the consternation of Henry. Paul has a habit of turning the most mundane situation into a party that no one remembers the next day and Henry doesn't want his aged-out party boy mentality messing up his weekend with Penny, especially when Henry feels there is so much at stake.

Like the hurricane he can be, Paul manages to upend Henry's entire notion of how the trip was supposed to go. His presence clearly aggravates the typically tightly-wound Henry but when Paul starts making friends with strangers and his packet of drug-laced cigarettes starts getting passed around, things become crazier than Henry could have ever anticipated.

As a comedy of errors, "That Friend" doesn't really do anything that any other comedy that involves ingesting drugs accidentally has done. There's laughs to be had, especially when Henry learns the truth about the packet of cigarettes, but the movie throws more outlandish scenarios at the screen as more people are affected by the cigarettes.

The other side of "That Friend" is its central relationship between Henry and Paul. While Henry and Penny are the romantic relationship the film focuses on, it isn't the heart of what makes "That Friend" work. There's years of history between Henry and Paul, and it's felt in their dynamic. Henry sometimes sees Paul as someone he has to endure because of the years between them, but Paul truly looks at Henry as his best friend. Regardless of where life is taking either one of them, no matter how annoyed Henry can get with Paul, there's love between the two polar opposite characters.

Guillén, who is best known for the TV adaptation of "What We Do in the Shadows," gives a genuinely moving performance as Paul. Seeing the story through Paul's eyes allows the film to be viewed by that friend who wants to stand still without anything changing. A friend outgrowing you can be tough to witness and even harder to accept. Guillén plays those emotions beautifully, which gives unexpected heart to a comedy built on a silly, drug-fueled premise. Through the laughs and pratfalls the movie provides, Guillen's performance as that friend elevates "That Friend."

What did you think?

Movie title That Friend
Release year 2026
MPAA Rating
Our rating
Summary This relatable third-wheel buddy comedy is built on a silly, drug-fueled premise and given heart thanks to a genuinely moving performance by comedic actor Harvey Guillén.
View all articles by Matthew Passantino
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