Telluride Film Review: ‘The Friend’ Evocatively Finds Naomi Watts and a Great Dane Navigating Grief

My dog loved my mom. He’s my dog, sure, but he had a special bond with her. When she suddenly passed away last year, he grieved her as noticeably and as strongly as I did, as my sister did, or as my dad did. He laid around, waiting to see her. He didn’t want to eat. He would pace around, unable to relax. What was I doing? Not eating, pacing around, not relaxing. The Friend features the line “how do you explain death to a dog?” and that’s a sentence I thought to myself multiple times. The grief I was experiencing was compounded by the despair over not being able to explain any of it to him, or to make him feel better. We were just in it. I tell you all that because, sometimes, what you bring to a movie matters. For most people, The Friend will be a moderately light drama about grief. For me, however, this was one of the harder cinematic experiences in some time. Playing at the Telluride Film Festival, it’s an evocative and well-made work, just one that left me in shambles.

The Friend is at its best when focused on the absolutely stunning Great Dane at the core of the story. Subplots and anything focused more on the literary elements of the flick are more hit or miss. When it’s dog focused, however, things are nearly flawless. This is not a traditional “dog movie” in the slightest, and it’s all the better for it.

Novelist and teacher Iris (Naomi Watts) is stunned when her longtime friend and mentor Walter (Bill Murray) ends his life. She’s always figured that someone who talked so much about suicide would never do it. Ir is is even more stunned when Walter’s widow, his third wife Barbara (Noma Dumezweni), informs her that of a request. Walter’s wish was for her to take possession of his beloved Great Dane, Apollo. Iris has a small apartment and is fully unequipped for a massive dog. Initially, it’s a terrible situation, made all the worse by the obvious grief that Apollo is expressing. Throw in a potential eviction and this has all the makings of a disaster.

As Iris tries to make sense of this new life, she begins to realize her own grieving process. The presence of Apollo constantly reminds her of Walter, which is complicated for her. However, they do begin to bond, allowing her to process her feelings, leading to a third act that features hard conversations that we so rarely get to have with those we’ve lost.

Naomi Watts has rarely been better than she is here. She slowly allows the emotion at play to bubble to the surface. She also just has terrific chemistry with Apollo, played by Bing in an all-timer of an animal performance. The regal canine shows so much in his eyes, you’ll swear he’s actually acting. Watts shines late in the game when Iris finally breaks. Bill Murray is content to be less showy her, which makes his Walter feel like a real person. He’s not in the film a ton, but he makes his scenes count. Supporting players here include the aforementioned Noma Dumezweni, as well as Ann Dowd, Carla Gugino, Josh Pais, Sarah Pidgeon, Felix Solis, Owen Teague, and Constance Wu, but this is Watts’ show (or Bing’s).

Filmmakers Scott McGehee and David Siegel never go for melodrama, which is a plus. Sure, I bawled constantly, but that’s a me thing. McGehee and Siegel are adapting the novel by Sigrid Nunez, and it has a literary flavor to it. Sometimes, it makes the story come alive. Other times, there are needless distractions from the central plot. Walter’s ex wives, his daughter, his posthumous book, and Iris’ teaching are all various degrees of superfluous. The more time we spend with Watts and Bing, the better. To that end, however, the pair’s direction does capture some wonderful shots of the dog that bring out tremendous emotion.

The Friend is a drama about grief that uses a dog to bring out complicated feelings about those we lost. That’s a hard needle to thread. Even if you don’t have the personal connection to this specific situation that I do, you’re likely to find this emotional without ever being sappy. As one of the World Premieres here at Telluride, it gets the festival going on a strong note. Bring your tissues, but make sure you give this one a shot once it gets picked up. Dog lovers especially, don’t miss it.

SCORE: ★★★