Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: ALL MY FRIENDS HATE ME [Tribeca Film Festival 2021 -Virtual]
The aspect of social anxiety and perspective sometimes simply is buried in the eyes of the beholder. Paranoia and maybe lack of understanding lies at the heart of "All My Friends Hate Me" [International Narrative Competition]. The film has a "Peter's Friends" mixed with other "returning-to-nest" stories where all the people seem to have issues but they are so wrapped up in their own perspective that they don't understand the claustrophobia it is causing. Peter, played by Tom Stourton, who also co-wrote the script, retreats to a friend's house in the country for his birthday party only to have some interesting encounters along the way. Pete who was always smooth and carefree in his youth is now worrying about consequences of every little thing but yet doesn't show empathy (which is key) for anyone around him (although he, at times, thinks he does). it all revolves around him and, as the story devolves (not violently) into an emotional taxing journey for him. The sarcasm of his friends but also their underlying disdain becomes clear. And yet it is not disdain.
He is their friend. It is just time. The eventual resolution is a long path coming and the way one character is played is quite mean when it was not necessary (the aspect of malice is actually two sides). The film is a gag of coincidences and yet real choices the character makes when he should have simply relaxed. The reality is that this is the point of the movie: to create a pressure cOoker situation. The laughs are supposed to fall flat. The story of George played by Joshua McGuire is actually the more riveting one because something much darker and unchecked is going on. McGuire plays it brilliantly somewhere between a court jester and a modulation of one of the drones of "American Psycho" before they explode. Eventually the switch is betrayed by the one line at the end. It may fix the brief problem presented but the film, despite its path, is unfulfilling. C
By Tim Wassberg
