Joey Magidson
Grief is a funny thing. How one processes a loss really varies from person to person. There’s no right or wrong way to grieve, after all. Personally? I used dark humor a lot when I dealt with the sudden loss of my mother a few years ago. So, I completely relate to what Marc Maron is doing in Are We Good? as he lives in the aftermath of the death of his partner Lynn Shelton. Playing at the 2025 Tribeca Festival, this is a wonderful documentary, with heart, humor, and even some profundity.
Are We Good? is far more than just a biographical doc about Maron, in that it’s far more interested in his current state than what happened prior. That’s an aspect of the work, sure, but all of the best parts focus on his healing process. That process involves tears, pain, and humor, with the latter aspect fueling his return to stand up comedy in the post COVID landscape.
The documentary follows Marc Maron, the actor, comedian, and podcaster, as he operates in a world torn out from under him. We see his backstory, which involved a lot of drugs, mild success in stand up comedy, and eventually a rise to become one of the preeminent podcasters. It’s in that world that he found additional success in actor, as well as brought him into contact with filmmaker Lynn Shelton. A friendship blossomed into a romantic partnership, one that gave the notoriously prickly Maron an occasionally sunnier outlook on life. Then, tragedy struck in the early days of the pandemic, as Shelton died suddenly from an undiagnosed illness.
As he returns to stand up and mourns her loss, Maron considers whether he even can be funny again, let alone work his pain into the act. As he eventually workshops Shelton’s passing into some dark yet therapeutic jokes, we also see him puttering about his home, remembering her, dealing with his cats, and generally being annoyed to be a part of a documentary. It’s truly a laugh and cry situation, in the most compelling, and even cathartic, way possible.
Marc Maron is an inherently funny person, both in terms of his comedy skills and also when it comes to his generally misanthropic disposition. So, there’s a lot of laughs here, even if it’s also consistently heartbreaking. He’s actually able to verbalize a lot of his pain, as well as his own struggle with the pain. At one point, he says something along the lines of this not being original, but simply it being his turn. That sort of quietly profound thought is part of what sets this work apart. I found it deeply relatable, in so many ways.
Director Steven Feinartz smartly includes all of the moments when Maron is annoyed by his presence. It prevents Are We Good? from ever feeling like anything even remotely resembling a vanity project. Instead, it’s Maron’s resistance, which also leads to some solid comedy, that proves an added bonus. Aside from that, Feinartz choose terrific clips, gets good chatter from his talking heads, and capably captures Maron in all of his processes.
Are We Good? moved me quite deeply, obviously due to personal aspects, but also just because it’s such a wonderfully made documentary. Not only is this the best thing I’ve seen at Tribeca so far this year, it’s the best doc of the year so far, overall. In fact, it’s top tier cinema overall for 2025 at this point. High praise indeed, but fully deserving of such. Seek it out!
SCORE: ★★★1/2
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