''Friendsgiving'' is a 2020 American
comedy-drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film, written, and directed by Nicol Paone in her directorial debut, premiering on October 23, 2020, produced by
Saban Films. It stars
Malin Åkerman,
Kat Dennings
Katherine Victoria Litwack (born June 13, 1986), known professionally as Kat Dennings, is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Max Black in the CBS sitcom '' 2 Broke Girls'' (2011–2017) and as Darcy Lewis in the Marvel ...
,
Aisha Tyler,
Chelsea Peretti
Chelsea Vanessa Peretti (born February 20, 1978) is an American comedian, actress, television writer, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for portraying Gina Linetti in the comedy series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' and writing for ''Parks and R ...
,
Christine Taylor
Christine Joan Taylor Stiller (born July 30, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for playing Marcia Brady in ''The Brady Bunch Movie'' and ''A Very Brady Sequel'', as well as roles in films like '' The Craft'', ''The Wedding Singer'', ''Z ...
,
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...
,
Deon Cole
Deon Anthony Cole (born January 9, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, and screenwriter. He is best known for his role in the sitcom ''Black-ish'' (2014–2022), which earned him nominations for two NAACP Image Awards and two SAG Awards. On Ju ...
,
Wanda Sykes
Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on ''The Chris Rock Show'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, ''Entertainm ...
,
Margaret Cho,
Fortune Feimster,
Jack Donnelly
Jack Donnelly (born 28 October 1985) is an English actor, best known for his role in BBC series ''Atlantis'', in which he played the role of Jason.
Early life
Donnelly was born the first of four boys in Bournemouth on 28 October 1985, the son ...
, and
Ryan Hansen
Ryan Hansen is an American actor, entrepreneur and comedian. He is best known for starring as Dick Casablancas on the noir drama series ''Veronica Mars'' (2004–2019), as Kyle Bradway on the Starz comedy series ''Party Down'' (2009–2010), and ...
. The film received generally negative reviews.
Plot
Molly, a movie actress, and Abby are best friends who have planned to spend a quiet Thanksgiving together. Molly is mom to a five-month old baby boy and is going through a divorce, while Abby, who came out as lesbian when she was 29 years old, has spent the past year getting over being dumped by her first girlfriend.
What was supposed to be a low-key holiday with just the two of them becomes a large
Friendsgiving
Friendsgiving is a Thanksgiving-themed feast meal typically eaten prior to or instead of a family Thanksgiving dinner in the United States. Those gathering are typically a group of close friends, often millennials, although participations has broad ...
dinner party after Molly invites her fling boyfriend, Jeff, to stay for dinner, as well as her and Abby's mutual friend Lauren with her husband and children. Meanwhile, Lauren invites a few single lesbians to the party to help Abby find a new love interest and start dating again.
Molly's estranged mother, Helen, also arrives unannounced from Sweden to stay with her, mend mother-daughter fences, and acquaint herself with her grandchild. Unbeknownst to Molly, Helen has invited Gunnar, a former boyfriend of Molly who stayed in touch with Helen through Facebook.
Other surprise friends and guests also arrive, including Claire, a recently-certified shaman who identifies as a "shawoman", Rick and his new wife Brianne who cannot speak audibly due to Botox injections, and Gus, a gay man whose brother has been missing for seven years.
Cast
*
Malin Åkerman as Molly
*
Kat Dennings
Katherine Victoria Litwack (born June 13, 1986), known professionally as Kat Dennings, is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Max Black in the CBS sitcom '' 2 Broke Girls'' (2011–2017) and as Darcy Lewis in the Marvel ...
as Abby
*
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...
as Helen
*
Aisha Tyler as Lauren
*
Chelsea Peretti
Chelsea Vanessa Peretti (born February 20, 1978) is an American comedian, actress, television writer, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for portraying Gina Linetti in the comedy series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' and writing for ''Parks and R ...
as Claire
*
Christine Taylor
Christine Joan Taylor Stiller (born July 30, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for playing Marcia Brady in ''The Brady Bunch Movie'' and ''A Very Brady Sequel'', as well as roles in films like '' The Craft'', ''The Wedding Singer'', ''Z ...
as Brianne
*
Deon Cole
Deon Anthony Cole (born January 9, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, and screenwriter. He is best known for his role in the sitcom ''Black-ish'' (2014–2022), which earned him nominations for two NAACP Image Awards and two SAG Awards. On Ju ...
as Dan
*
Ryan Hansen
Ryan Hansen is an American actor, entrepreneur and comedian. He is best known for starring as Dick Casablancas on the noir drama series ''Veronica Mars'' (2004–2019), as Kyle Bradway on the Starz comedy series ''Party Down'' (2009–2010), and ...
as Gunnar
*
Wanda Sykes
Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on ''The Chris Rock Show'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, ''Entertainm ...
,
Margaret Cho and
Fortune Feimster as Fairy Gay Mothers
*
Jack Donnelly
Jack Donnelly (born 28 October 1985) is an English actor, best known for his role in BBC series ''Atlantis'', in which he played the role of Jason.
Early life
Donnelly was born the first of four boys in Bournemouth on 28 October 1985, the son ...
as Jeff
*
River Butcher as Denim
*
Andrew Santino as Rick
*
Dana DeLorenzo
Dana Rose DeLorenzo (born January 1, 1983) is an American actress and former radio personality and producer. She is best known for her starring role as Kelly Maxwell in the Starz horror-comedy series ''Ash vs Evil Dead'' (2015–2018).
Career
...
as Barbara
* Everly and Savannah Sucher as Eden
*
Rose Abdoo
Rose Marie Abdoo (born November 28, 1962) is an American actress and comedian, known for her roles as Stars Hollow's local mechanic, Gypsy, on ''Gilmore Girls'' and as Spanish teacher Señorita Rodriguez on ''That's So Raven''.
Life and career
...
as Linda, Abby’s mother
*
Joe Lando
Joseph John Lando (born December 9, 1961) is an American actor, known for playing Jake Harrison on daytime's ''One Life to Live'' (1990–1992) and Byron Sully on the television series ''Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'' (1993–1998).
Life and c ...
as Handsome Man
* Mike Rose as Gus
Production
In May 2018, it was announced
Malin Åkerman,
Kat Dennings
Katherine Victoria Litwack (born June 13, 1986), known professionally as Kat Dennings, is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Max Black in the CBS sitcom '' 2 Broke Girls'' (2011–2017) and as Darcy Lewis in the Marvel ...
,
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...
,
Aisha Tyler,
Chelsea Peretti
Chelsea Vanessa Peretti (born February 20, 1978) is an American comedian, actress, television writer, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for portraying Gina Linetti in the comedy series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' and writing for ''Parks and R ...
,
Christine Taylor
Christine Joan Taylor Stiller (born July 30, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for playing Marcia Brady in ''The Brady Bunch Movie'' and ''A Very Brady Sequel'', as well as roles in films like '' The Craft'', ''The Wedding Singer'', ''Z ...
,
Deon Cole
Deon Anthony Cole (born January 9, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, and screenwriter. He is best known for his role in the sitcom ''Black-ish'' (2014–2022), which earned him nominations for two NAACP Image Awards and two SAG Awards. On Ju ...
,
Ryan Hansen
Ryan Hansen is an American actor, entrepreneur and comedian. He is best known for starring as Dick Casablancas on the noir drama series ''Veronica Mars'' (2004–2019), as Kyle Bradway on the Starz comedy series ''Party Down'' (2009–2010), and ...
,
Wanda Sykes
Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on ''The Chris Rock Show'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, ''Entertainm ...
and
Margaret Cho, had been cast in the film, with Nicol Paone directing from a screenplay she wrote.
Malin Åkerman,
Ben Stiller, Nicholas Weinstock and Harmon Saleem will produce the film, under their
Red Hour Films and Endeavor Content banners, respectively.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began in May 2018. Production concluded on June 4, 2018.
Release
In November 2019,
Saban Films acquired distribution rights to the film. In February 2020,
Vertical Entertainment acquired U.K. distribution rights to the film. It was released on October 23, 2020.
Critical response
''Friendsgiving'' holds approval rating on review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on reviews, with an average of .
Home media
The film became available as
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
in the United States on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
on January 21, 2021.
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 8431078
2020 films
2020 comedy-drama films
2020 directorial debut films
2020 LGBT-related films
2020s English-language films
American comedy-drama films
Lesbian-related films
LGBT-related comedy-drama films
Thanksgiving in films
Films set in Los Angeles
Films produced by Ben Stiller
Red Hour Productions films
Saban Films films
Vertical Entertainment films
2020s American films
English-language comedy-drama films