Netflix has been producing a surprising amount of good movies today, though usually we’re talking about something in the scripted space. Now, its best new movie, Will and Harper, comes from comedy legend Will Ferrell in an unscripted format, a documentary where Ferrell tours the country with his friend Harper Steele who recently came out as trans, as he tries to understand a concept he is not all that familiar with.
The film currently has a stunning 99% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes with 85 reviews in, and that’s just a single negative review out of all time them keeping it 100. The audience score is quite good as well, an 80% with several hundred reviews in, and it has not been sunk or bombed because of its subject matter, in the face of so much anti-trans rhetoric in the present day.
Here is a longer description of the film:
“Three years ago, Will Ferrell was filming a movie when he received a most surprising email: his dear friend of nearly 30 years was coming out to him as a trans woman. That friend was Harper Steele, a writer he met on his first day at Saturday Night Live back in 1995. From that fateful first meeting in the halls of 30 Rock, Will knew he had found a match made in comedy, and their friendship and creative partnership would only continue to grow over the next 3 decades.
In this intimate, honest, and heartfelt documentary, Will and Harper hit the open road together to process this new stage of their friendship and reintroduce Harper to the country that she loves — this time, as herself. Over 16 days, the two drive from New York to LA, visiting stops that are meaningful to them, to their friendship, and to America. Through laughter, tears, and many cans of Pringles, they push past their comfort zones as they re-examine their relationships to these spaces, and to each other, in this new light.”
Will and Harper has charted on the Netflix Top 10 list at #4, currently, which is pretty solid. It’s past Rebel Ridge, Uglies and the ever-present Super Mario Bros. Movie, at least. The top three right now are Jailbreak: Love on the Run, The Garfield Movie, and Rez Ball, the last of which has again, a really excellent score of a 95% as it follows a Native American high school basketball team dealing with the loss of a teammate. It also sounds very good, so I’ll add it to the list. But first, Will and Harper.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
