BFFs

BFFs has a classic romantic comedy trope setup. Because of the premise, I expect the film to be yet another irritating zany comedy. To my pleasant surprise, BFFs isn’t zany. In fact, it’s a bit dark, a bit mean and grounded in real emotion. But could it have used more comedy?

BFFs is a take on the classic trope of the pretend romantic relationship. Misanthropic Kat receives the gift of a couple’s retreat from her overbearing mother. As a joke, Kat takes her best friend, Sam along with her. The retreat features a handful of other couples and is lead by some woo-woo, emotional leaders. Of course, pretending to be a couple makes Sam and Kat question the nature of their relationship.

Based on the premise, I truly expected this film to be light and fluffy; a souffle of a movie. But right off the mark, there’s an edge and darkness to the comedy. Kat’s outlook on life and relationships is often bleak. Her relationship with Sam is also based in their ability to tease and outright insult each other. Personally, this made the film more relatable and watchable. But if you’re looking for a happy-go-lucky movie that’s all light, BFFs will miss that mark.

In place of lighthearted jokes, BFFs genuinely explores characters and relationships. Obviously, Sam and Kat, primarily. But the other couples on the retreat also get conflicts to work through and shining moments of emotional breakthroughs. The film covers a lot of ground regarding relationship issues and emotional intimacy. There’s way more depth here than I expected. Even in Sam and Kat’s relationship, there’s no easy answers. Not all of their problems are solved in this singular weekend. The future of their relationship ends up uncertain. Given the amount of exploration into character depth and internal and external conflict, anything else would have been a disservice.

However, I do wish the film was perhaps 10% more zany. One really good comic relief supporting character would have taken the film from good, to good and also hilarious. One of the heaviest scenes in BFFs is when one of the couples has a major argument during the exercise. Like much of the dialogue in BFFs, their few minute argument paints an entire and troubling portrait of their relationship. While I applaud the dialogue and character work, I can’t help wishing for something lighter. It often feels like Sam and Kat are alone holding up the comedy promise of the film. The other couples are often played pretty straight in their desire to work through relationship problems. And I’m not usually a fan of things being straight.

What is overall admirable about BFFs is how great of a story they told within their budget. I frequently complain about smaller budget films telling stories beyond their means. BFFs is the reverse. This is a story crafted to work well within a smaller budget. The focus is very character and emotion-based. Clearly, a lot of work was put into this screenplay before it went to shoot. The amount of character work and layered dialogue is really, really impressive. I would love to read a copy of this script. I’m really in awe of how much characterization and backstory they manage to work into dialogue scenes.

I really liked BFFs. It created two flawed characters and a relationship that I really rooted for. The supporting characters also have complete, emotional arcs. The focus on emotional intimacy is extremely successful. I wanted perhaps 10% more comedy, yes. But overall, I’m really impressed with BFFs. As an aspiring filmmaker myself, this is a great example of a well-done script with great characters that can be shot on a smaller budget. The outcome is a dark, moving and funny portrait of a complex relationship.

Overall rating: 6.8/10

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