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“The Friend,” starring Bill Murray and Naomi Watts will open the second annual Croatia International Film Festival on August 8 in the coastal city of Sibenik.

Based on the bestselling novel by Sigrid Nunez, “The Friend” follows Iris (Naomi Watts), a writer whose life is upended when her friend and literary mentor (Murray) bequeaths her his beloved Great Dane.

Directed by Scott McGhee and David Siegel, “The Friend,” which debuted at last year’s Telluride Film Festival and then screened at Toronto, was released to North America by Bleecker Street in March.

McGhee and Siegel will also attend Ciff, a four-day event, with Murray.

“We’ve been yearning to visit Croatia ever since working with the great Croatian actor Goran Visnjic in our film ‘The Deep End,'” McGhee and Siegel said in a joint statement. “We couldn’t be more excited about now bringing ‘The Friend’ to Ciff.”

Last year,...

Netflix just dropped The Room Next Door — and it’s got major Oscar-bait energy. Starring powerhouses Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, the film dives deep into grief, nostalgia, and old wounds.

Moore plays Ingrid, a famous author with a bit of a death fixation. During a book signing, she bumps into someone who drops a bomb — Martha, her long-lost party buddy from their wild ’80s New York days, is gravely ill. Ingrid visits her, only to find a haunting version of the fierce, fearless woman she once knew.

Cue the emotional gut punches.

Tilda Swinton cashed a $21M check for this indie flick — worth every penny Tilda Swinton in The Room Next Door | Credits: Sony Pictures

After 45 years of crafting critically adored Spanish-language hits, Pedro Almodóvar finally makes his English-language feature debut — and he didn’t come to play. The Room Next Door is adapted from a novel by Sigrid Nunez...

Human beings and dogs have been friends for 12,000 years now. While the wolf in the wild has evolved to become man’s “best friend,” an emblem of loyalty in friendships, have humans been as considerate in treating this best friend as an equal? There are stories of dogs like Hachiko and Apollo in fiction, but canine shelters still fill up in numbers with dogs abandoned by their humans. The Friend, adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award-winning novel, is a tender introspection of friendship and the grief that comes with losing a friend—a remembrance that you take a lifetime to recover from. Starring Naomi Watts as Iris, a writer living alone in Manhattan, it follows her life after her close friend and mentor Walter’s death by suicide. Walter, a man of many loves and wives, chooses his best friend and former student to take care of his Great Dane,...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Being Maria (Jessica Palud)

Last Tango in Paris was both a breakout role and turning point in the life and career of Maria Schneider––a traumatic filming experience that inspired her to become an advocate for women in the film industry, and the often redundant depictions of female characters in cinema. Her steadfastness and increasing ability to not suffer fools gladly after her experiences with Bernardo Bertolucci and Marlon Brando saw her walk out on several major directors midway through shooting, earning her a reputation for being difficult, frustrations largely ignored as this behavior coincided with her own battles with mental health and drug addiction, both of which were weaponized as reasons to not hire her. Any writing on Schneider characterizes her...

Yes, the synopsis for The Friend sounds like a discarded Friends subplot, but there’s emotional truth in this tale of a New Yorker bonding with a massive dog in their shared sadness. Familiar tropes resurface in this adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s 2018 novel — alongside occasional implausible moments — but the graceful sensitivity of Naomi Watts’ performance as protagonist Iris is what you will remember. That and Apollo, the mighty harlequin canine she looks after in her poky West Village flat.

Iris is mourning her best pal, revered writer and professor Walter when his third wife Barbara (a steely Noma Dumezweni) insists she take care of Apollo because Walter apparently wanted her to. Apollo, a magnificent beast unsuited to inner-city living, is as bereft at his owner’s suicide as Iris and lies on her bed looking sad, only perking up when Iris reads aloud some of Walter’s old emails.

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson for Wbgr-fm on April 3rd, 2025, reviewing the new film “The Friend,” featuring Bill Murray, Naomi Watts and a Great Dane named Apollo. In select theaters beginning April 4th.

Murray portrays Walter, an iconic New York City-based author who commits suicide. This gathers his current wife and two ex-wives together and a former student named Iris (Naomi Watts), who was also a lover. Walter leaves behind Apollo, a horse-like Great Dane, a dog which Iris somehow ends up with while she is collecting Walter’s letters for publication, with the help of his daughter Val (Sarah Pidgeon). Can Iris handle the leash, even though her rent controlled apartment doesn’t allow dogs?

”The Friend” is in select theaters on April 4th. See local listings. Featuring Bill Murray, Naomi Watts, Noma Dumezwani, Constance Wu and Carla Gugino. Screenplay adapted by Scott McGhee,...

Bill Murray opened up in a new interview about the incident that led to Being Mortal, Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut, being shut down in what was described at the time as Murray’s “inappropriate behavior.”

In a conversation discussing his new movie The Friend with The New York Times, Murray was asked about the parallels between Walter, the film’s character he portrays, and his own experience with both of them being accused of “inappropriate misconduct.” When asked if he thought about that, Murray said, “I don’t go...

By mere chance, The Friend has been a part of my life for quite some time now. I was first introduced to the book when Hal Hartley recommended it for my book club sometime around 2021, when I was just a girl with two cats. Fast forward and it’s 2024, now I love dogs and had just adopted a puppy named Variety Magazine. It was during that spring, on one of those early days of puppyhood, that he got street cast for a b-roll sequence in an upcoming film… that was to be an adaptation of Sigrid Nuñez’s The Friend. […]

The post Amalia Meets Bing: Walking with the Canine Star of The Friend and Talking to Owner Bev Klingensmith and Trainer Bill Berloni first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

By mere chance, The Friend has been a part of my life for quite some time now. I was first introduced to the book when Hal Hartley recommended it for my book club sometime around 2021, when I was just a girl with two cats. Fast forward and it’s 2024, now I love dogs and had just adopted a puppy named Variety Magazine. It was during that spring, on one of those early days of puppyhood, that he got street cast for a b-roll sequence in an upcoming film… that was to be an adaptation of Sigrid Nuñez’s The Friend. […]

The post Amalia Meets Bing: Walking with the Canine Star of The Friend and Talking to Owner Bev Klingensmith and Trainer Bill Berloni first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Naomi Watts and Bill Murray in Bleecker Street’s The Friend. Credit: Bleecker Street

Bill Murray and Naomi Watts star as best friends in The Friend, a comedy-drama about a friend leaving his beloved pet, a Great Dane named Apollo, to his best friend. The friend didn’t let the bestie know about this plan, leaving the friend both grieving and trying to find a place for a dog that is not allowed in her no-pets apartment.

There even seems some doubt about whether that was really ever said out loud. But it is what the friend’s second ex-wife, who has the dog now, tells her he wanted. Naomi Watts plays Iris, the friend who is left the dog when her best friend Walter (Bill Murray) suddenly dies.

This smart, human comedy/drama is set in New York among writers, academics and literary types but it finds common ground...

Naomi Watts stars in ‘The Friend’ (Photo Credit: Bleecker Street)

Based on Sigrid Nunez’s bestselling novel, The Friend is a poignant and powerful story of grief and the unexpected ways that we heal. Following the sudden death of her friend and former professor, Walter (a pitch-perfect Bill Murray), Iris finds herself the guardian of Apollo, his beloved—and ginormous—Great Dane. What begins for Iris as a completely overwhelming arrangement gradually evolves into a life-changing experience.

Naomi Watts (Feud) delivers a touching performance as Iris, a writer and teacher who grapples with the absence of her mentor while also caring for his giant, grieving dog in a small, rent-controlled, no-pets-allowed apartment. A cat person, Iris never expected to be responsible for a dog, let alone one the size of a small horse who misses Walter as much as she does. No one, including herself, believes this arrangement will work out.

Near the beginning of 2020, filmmakers David Siegel and Scott McGehee traveled to Newton, Iowa, to meet a Great Dane named Bing. The pair needed a leading canine for their next movie The Friend, an adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s novel of the same name, and the black-spotted boy looked like a perfect fit. The only problem? Bing was just two years old and didn’t quite have the maturity of the 150-pound five-year-old that Nunez had described in her book.

In retrospect, Bing’s adolescence was a blessing in disguise.

This is a nifty indie weekend with a busier and higher profile limited release schedule than we’ve seen in some time. The Ballad of Wallis Island, The Friend, Grand Tour, Viet And Nam, Holy Cow and documentaries The Encampments, which is super timely, and Secret Mall Apartment are peppering theaters in major markets.

Many have festival imprimaturs from Cannes on down and great Rotten Tomatoes critics scores. In moderate release, Sony Pictures Classics is out with Steve Coogan in The Penguin Lessons.

Limited openings: Watermelon Pictures debuts Macklemore-produced The Encampments at the Angelika, which has been adding shows, and the doc looks like it’s heading to a super opening of $70+k at one location. The distributor moved up the release date given the timeliness of the film, which follows students at Columbia University who launched a movement protesting the war in Gaza. It features detained student activist...

Editor’s Note: This review was originally published during the 2024 Telluride Film Festival. “The Friend” opens from Bleecker Street Friday, March 28, 2025.

There’s no way to play this part cool: for the entire second half of David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s “The Friend,” this critic was reduced to a blubbering, sobbing, heaving mess, clutching damp paper towels and alternating between choking and laughing. While the filmmaking pair’s latest might sound squarely aimed at Naomi Watts super-fans and intense animal people, what they actually present in “The Friend” isn’t so very niche at all: instead, it’s the sort of witty, wise, and warm character study we seem to be running out of these days. And that’s just when it comes to its standout dog star, the Great Dane (emphasis on great) Bing.

The film opens both before and after the arrival of Apollo, the Great Dane at its center.

The Friend directors David Siegel and Scott McGehee with Anne-Katrin Titze: “We spent a lot of time talking with our costume designer Stacey Battat. We've worked with her a couple of times already, and she's got a great eye.”

David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s wondrous and sage The Friend (spiritedly adapted from the National Book Award-winning novel by Sigrid Nunez and a highlight in the Spotlight programme of the 62nd New York Film Festival) stars Naomi Watts as Iris, an author in New York City who loses her best friend Walter (Bill Murray) to suicide and inherits his majestic Harlequin Great Dane Apollo (played by the scene- and heart-stealing Bing).

Iris (Naomi Watts) on the streets of New York City with her very large tote bag and Apollo (played by Bing)

After already having thrown the advice by Wc Fields to never work with children or animals to the...

You’ve probably seen his cute face and big noggin on billboards, TV, or while scrolling your social media feed — a black-and-white-speckled Great Dane named Bing, with a disarmingly droopy face and a pair of heartbreakingly handsome eyes of different colors, accompanying Naomi Watts in the streets of New York City. Obviously a very good boy, Bing is the canine star of David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s big-hearted urban drama “The Friend,” a tender tearjerker on grief, love, and friendship (between both two and four-legged beings), and one of the most classically New York movies in recent memory.

It makes all the sense in the world that a movie called “The Friend” would be the work of two lifelong friends and creative partners like Siegel and McGehee, co-writers and co-directors of intimate human dramas like “The Deep End” and “Montana Story,” who poured their organic synergy and shared life...

Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2024 New York Film Festival coverage. The Friend opens in theaters on March 28 from Bleecker Street.

Independent filmmaking duo Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s The Friend, their newest in a 30-year collaboration, is a dog movie. Or, more aptly, it’s a film about a dog and Iris (Naomi Watts), a woman who hates dogs. Iris inherits a Great Dane, Apollo, from her late friend, mentor, and lover Walter (Bill Murray). The movie, adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award-winning novel of the same name, is light to the touch, despite its themes of grief, suicide, and depression. It’s the type of film my parents would love––something shown on a cable network on a Sunday afternoon, easy to watch with just enough substance to make the audience feel something reminiscent of sadness. That’s a compliment, though:...

“What’s going to happen to the dog?”

This sentence is repeated close to a dozen times in The Friend, an adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s novel about a woman, a ghost, and a 180-pound Great Dane, and it’s the second biggest question that haunts this gently funny, deeply mournful movie. (It opens in New York and Los Angeles on March 28, and hits wide-release theaters on April 4.) For starters, there’s the dog’s owner, Walter (Bill Murray). Out for a jog one morning, he spies the solo pooch...

Those who live in the Tri-State area—or are masochistic voyeurs of Manhattan real estate—may experience writer-directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s The Friend more like a home-invasion horror film than a drama. Writer and professor Iris (Naomi Watts) can afford to live in the West Village off of Washington Square Park thanks to inheriting a rent-controlled unit from her father. But that sweet deal comes under threat when she’s forced to assume custodianship of Apollo, a Great Dane belonging to her recently departed mentor, Walter (Billy Murray), as her apartment building has a rule against pets.

Discount some of those localized stakes, though, and this adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s source novel plays more like a standard-issue story about learning to live with grief. Murray is perfect casting for a character like Walter, who only appears in a few scenes. His larger-than-life persona casts a long shadow even in his absence.

David Lynch launched Naomi Watts' stateside acting career when they collaborated on the iconic film, Mulholland Drive, together. And, it seems, the lauded and genius director was still working on ways for the two to continue their partnership in the weeks leading up to his death. It's a touching bit of insight into the unique and singular way Lynch worked with his favorite creative collaborators — one rife with a bit of grief for what could have been when the director passed away on January 17, 2025.

In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, the actress divulged a few precious details about her last lunch with the director and fellow actress/Lynch muse, Laura Dern. A meal that took place not just because they were all friends, but also because Lynch was cooking up a new project idea that would reunite the trio on screen again. According to Watts:

"We...

Atom Egoyan, director of the Seven Veils, surrounded by his admirers at the Quad Cinema Photo: Ed Bahlman

On Saturday, March 8, an audience member in the packed theater U of the Quad Cinema after my conversation with Atom Egoyan on Seven Veils asked him: “Which film should I put on when I get home?” Atom responded: “I would play [Michael Powell’s] Peeping Tom backwards maybe. Maybe [Alfred Hitchcock’s] Rebecca, actually some Hitchcock. Carmen is pretty interesting, the Carlos Saura film. Does anyone else have a double bill idea?” Suggestions rang out from Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls and Brian de Palma’s Passion, to Todd Field’s Tár, and of course, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffmann.

Atom Egoyan on Jeanine (Amanda Seyfried) at the Salome tech rehearsal: “There’s no one she can communicate with, she is really on her own.

Atom Egoyan, director of the Seven Veils, surrounded by his admirers at the Quad Cinema Photo: Ed Bahlman

On Saturday, March 8, an audience member in the packed theater U of the Quad Cinema after my conversation with Atom Egoyan on Seven Veils asked him: “Which film should I put on when I get home?” Atom responded: “I would play [Michael Powell’s] Peeping Tom backwards maybe. Maybe [Alfred Hitchcock’s] Rebecca, actually some Hitchcock. Carmen is pretty interesting, the Carlos Saura film. Does anyone else have a double bill idea?” Suggestions rang out from Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls and Brian de Palma’s Passion, to Todd Field’s Tár, and of course, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffmann.

Atom Egoyan on Jeanine (Amanda Seyfried) at the Salome tech rehearsal: “There’s no one she can communicate with, she is really on her own.

Film is so back. Shooting on Kodak film continues to be both a more popular choice among filmmakers and to gather more Oscar prestige. At this year’s Academy Awards Sean Baker’s Best Picture winner, “Anora,” was shot on 35mm by cinematographer Drew Daniels; Brady Corbet’s Best Cinematography winner, “The Brutalist,” was shot on 35mm VistaVision to great aplomb by Dp Lol Crawley; Walter Salles’ Best International Feature Film winner, “I’m Still Here,” was shot on both 35mm and S8mm by cinematographer Adrian Teijido; and the Best Live Action Short winner, “I’m Not a Robot,” was also shot on 35mm.

This year looks set to build on that success. There will be a cohort of prominent movies captured on film from some of the usual analog-loving directors: Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt,” Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia,” Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme,...

"I could feel him missing Walter in the same way I did." Bleecker Street has revealed an official trailer for The Friend, one of the best dog movies ever made, based on the book. Directed by Scott McGehee & David Siegel, The Friend first premiered at the 2024 TIFF & NYFF festivals last fall to mostly positive reviews (I loved it). Adapted from the bestselling novel also titled "The Friend" by Sigrid Nunez, it's a story about love, friendship, grief and healing, following a writer who adopts a Great Dane that belonged to a late friend and mentor. Naomi Watts stars as Iris, who takes in this massive, 150lbs Great Dane named Apollo (played by a real doggie named Bing). He immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones, his looming presence constantly reminding her of her friend's problematic choices in both life and death.

In the trailer for The Friend, the emotional support animal comes in a large package.

Based on the Sigrid Nunez novel, The Friend follows Iris (Naomi Watts), a writer and teacher, who is grieving the loss of her friend and mentor Walter (Bill Murray) when she learns that he has left her his dog, a Great Dane named Apollo.

“What’s going to happen to the dog,” Murray’s Walter asks in the trailer. After taking in the dog, Watts’ Iris has to contend with the realities of having a new massive companion in a New York City, where Apollo destroys her apartment, takes over her bed and drags her down city sidewalks. All the while, she continues to work through the loss of her friend.

Scott McGhee and David Siegel directed and adapted the book for the screen. Constance Wu, Carla Gugino and Ann Dowd star alongside Watts and Murray.

The Room Next Door wasn’t the only Sigrid Nunez adaptation to premiere at fall festivals last year. David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s Montana Story follow-up The Friend finds Naomi Watts as a woman in NYC who looks after the dog of her friend (Bill Murray) after he passes away. The Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF selection was picked up by Bleecker Street who have now released the trailer ahead of a March 28 release in NYC and a wide release on April 4.

Here’s the synopsis: “In The Friend, adapted from the bestselling novel, Iris (Naomi Watts) finds her comfortable New York life upended when her friend and mentor Walter (Bill Murray) bequeaths her his Great Dane, Apollo. The regal yet intractable beast is a constant reminder of Walter and causes various problems—yet as Iris bonds with Apollo, she begins to cope with her past, her lost friend, and her own creative inner life.

“The Friend” is almost here.

The drama from directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel opens exclusively in New York on March 28 before its wide release on April 4. And you can watch a brand-new trailer for the Naomi Watts-led film below.

“The Friend,” based on Sigrid Nunez’s 2018 book of the same name, stars Bill Murray as a man who leaves his beloved Great Dane to his friend (Watts). Wouldn’t you know it, she learns more from the dog than the dog could ever learn from her? Sarah Pidgeon, Constance Wu, Ann Dowd, Noma Dumezweni, Owen Teague and Carla Gugino also star.

The movie premiered at last year’s Telluride Film Festival and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival. Bleecker Street acquired the North American rights to the film, which tentatively planned an early 2025 release. Now we know the release isn’t quite...

Get ready for a captivating cinematic experience that delves deep into the complexities of grief, friendship, and unexpected bonds. The Friend is shaping up to be one of 2025’s most anticipated independent films, bringing together a powerhouse ensemble cast led by the incomparable Naomi Watts and the legendary Bill Murray.

Bill Murray and Naomi Watts in The Friend | Credits: Bleecker Street

Based on Sigrid Nunez’s acclaimed 2018 novel, this thought-provoking drama explores the transformative power of unexpected connections and the lasting impact of friendship. As audiences eagerly await its release, we’ve gathered all the essential details about this intimate character study that’s already generating significant buzz in the film industry.

Who’s who? Meet the star-studded cast Naomi Watts and Bing in The Friend | Credits: Bleecker Street

The casting directors have assembled an extraordinary group of talented actors for The Friend, ensuring that every character brings depth and authenticity to the story.

This weekend sees the wider release of a film that would probably be referred to as “Oscar bait” since it stars two actresses who have that “golden guy” and it’s directed by a beloved and celebrated filmmaker. With the latter, this shares a similar distinction with another lauded “end of the year” work, Emilia Perez. No, this isn’t a musical. The common thread is that Perez was made by a French director who is telling a story in the Spanish language, while this new release has a Spanish helmer working completely in English for the very first time after nearly half of a century in cinema. And though it’s set in today’s modern world it harkens back to the movies of Hollywood’s Golden Age”. It becomes clear to cinephiles the moment they enter (if it’s ajar…a big plot point) The Room Next Door.

It’s officially Spirit Award season here at Film Independent! We had our annual Awards Brunch last weekend, and we’re getting prepped for the big show on February 22. While that means late nights making seating charts, sending out invites, and hiring photographers for us, for you, it means enjoying even more movies!

This month, we’ve picked out some Spirit Award alums with new releases (or ones that came out during the holiday break). Included in this crop is a delicious combo of Russel Banks and Paul Schrader, Nicole Kidman making Bdsm feel good in a place like this, Pedro Almodóvar casting Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton in his first English-language film, and Robbie Williams’ surprisingly powerful monkey movie.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Oh, Canada

When You Can Watch: Now

Where You Can Watch: Theaters (limited)

Creator/Director: Paul Schrader

Cast: Richard Gere, Uma Thurman,...

Triumph of the Will: Almodovar’s Muy Excelente English Debut

“Women and fiction remain, so far as I am concerned, unsolved problems,” wrote Virginia Woolf in her seminal essay A Room of One’s Own, published in 1929. She’s a notable reference point in The Room Next Door, the English language feature debut from Spain’s most iconoclastic auteur, Pedro Almodóvar. And it stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. Based on Sigrid Nunez’s 2020 novel What Are You Going Through, the notion of spatial orientation is a prominent subtext in this story of two women who were friends and colleagues in their youth, reunited when one of them is entering their final stages of cervical cancer.…...

Alessandro Nivola as Aleksei Sytsevich in Jc Chandor’s Kraven The Hunter.

In the fourth instalment of my conversation with Alessandro Nivola before he headed off to the Venice International Film Festival to promote two world premières of films that he is in, we discussed his role as Aleksei Sytsevich (aka Rhino) in Jc Chandor’s Kraven The Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson with Russell Crowe, Christopher Abbott, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger. Working again with Chandor after A Most Violent Year, David O Russell casting him twice, Alan Taylor’s The Many Saints Of Newark, John Woo’s Face/Off, Joe Johnston’s Jurassic Park III also came up.

Alessandro Nivola with Anne-Katrin Titze on Aleksei Sytsevich, aka Rhino: “I'm the main antagonist to Aaron Taylor-Johnson's character, who is this other Spider-man villain called Kraven. And I am scary. ”

In Venice, Alessandro was the lucky charm: Pedro Almodóvar won the Golden Lion...

Sigrid Nunez with Anne-Katrin Titze on Alessandro Nivola as the police officer in Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door: “He's just very convincing as that type. And he's menacing in a very particular way. I thought he was very good. I saw him in [Brady Corbet’s] The Brutalist.”

Pedro Almodóvar’s free and fabulous adaptation of the novel What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez is his first feature in English and a celebration of life’s miraculousness face-to-face with death. The duo of Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton display an inner and outer beauty that lifts a tale of dying into an unforeseen realm, where friendship and care and appreciation of the world reign.

Pedro Almodóvar holding up What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez Photo: Anne Katrin Titze

The Room Next Door (Golden Lion winner at the Venice International Film Festival and Centerpiece...

Now that the dust has settled following the 2024 ceremony, it's time to turn attention toward the 2025 Oscars and the movies that are competing to secure a Best Picture nomination and campaign for a win. As surprising nominees and winners at the 2024 Oscars proved, predicting the 2025 results so far ahead of time is no easy task. However, some serious contenders for awards season have emerged as Oscars 2025 predictions for all categories begin to take shape. This includes a strong group of movies competing for one of ten Best Picture nominations.

Even heading into the 2025 Oscars season, some movies were looked at early on as major contenders. Dune: Part Two is eligible after being delayed from its original 2023 release date, while new movies from Luca Guadagnino, Yorgos Lanthimios, Sean Baker, Edward Berger, Ridley Scott, Steve McQueen, and Clint Eastwood were looked at as contenders to watch out for. Of course, awards season...

Bing as Apollo with Naomi Watts as Iris in David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s wondrous and sage adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award winning novel The Friend

In the first instalment with novelist Sigrid Nunez, we start out discussing the costume design (by Bina Daigeler) for Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore's outfits in Pedro Almodóvar’s enlightened The Room Next Door and the clothes (by Stacey Battat) for Naomi Watts in David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s wondrous and sage adaptation of her National Book Award winning novel The Friend (a highlight in the Spotlight programme of New York Film Festival).

Sigrid Nunez with Anne-Katrin Titze on Jean Cocteau’s Beauty And The Beast: “You know there's something about a man-sized cat.”

Bing, the Harlequin Great Dane who steals the show...

In The Room Next Door, writer-director Pedro Almodóvar builds upon his feminocentric repertoire with some beautiful performances from Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore.

As the trio appeared on a panel Saturday at Deadline’s Contenders Film event, the actresses opened up about working with the acclaimed filmmaker on the Golden Lion-winning film that centers a years-long female friendship.

“It’s wonderful. He really honors the female experience,” said Moore. “I think it’s something that he talks about, sitting under the kitchen table when his mother was talking to her friends and absorbing those stories and how powerful they were, and understanding that point of view. I think he’s always in that feminine point of view. Like I said, he honors that world. You feel very, very seen as an actor when you work with Pedro.”

Based on Sigrid Nunez’s 2020 book What Are You Going Through, The Room Next Door...

"I will not go out in mortifying anguish." Sony Picture Classics has revealed their final official US trailer for The Room Next Door, the first English language feature from Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. It's already playing in theaters in Europe now and also opens in the US next month in the awards season. The film won the Golden Lion top prize at the 2024 Venice Film Festival a few months back (my review). Adapted from "What Are You Going Through" by Sigrid Nunez. Ingrid & Martha were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become an autofiction novelist while Martha became a war reporter, and they were separated by the circumstances of life. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation. Starring Julianne Moore as Ingrid and Tilda Swinton as Martha, Alessandro Nivola,...

The 2025 Academy Awards may have two actresses from the same movie nominated in the Best Actress category, a feat that hasn't happened in 23 years. Although the Oscars 2025 predictions for Best Actress include some current big names such as Saoirse Ronan, Emma Stone, Florence Pugh, and Lily Gladstone, a few old-time actresses threaten to make a return to the awards ceremony. Besides Angelina Jolie taking on the role of real-life opera singer, Maria Callas, in Pablo Larran's bio picture, Pedro Almodovr's The Room Next Door unites two of Hollywood's best character actresses.

In past years, veteran performers have proven they can hold their weight against modern and trending actors and actresses. For their performance in Almodvar's English-language debut, five-time nominee Julianne Moore and Best Supporting Actress winner Tilda Swinton aim to compete for the Best Actress category in the 2025 ceremony. After years without an appearance on the Oscars lineup, the actresses...

One of the only bad things about attending a festival like TIFF is that so many great-looking movies play that it’s too easy to miss more than a few. One of the movies I tried hardest to fit into my schedule – to no avail – was The Friend, starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray. Directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, the film is an adaptation of a book by Sigrid Nunez that focuses on a woman trying to come to terms with the death of her friend and mentor. Complicating matters is that the woman’s also been left custody of her deceased friend’s beloved Great Dane, an unwieldy pet for her tiny New York apartment.

While it earned very solid reviews at TIFF, it wasn’t one of the films that got snapped up right away for distribution. However, Bleecker Street has now stepped in to acquire The Friend,...

The fall festival season has wrapped up! Each year, dozens of movies premiere at festivals with distributors looking to launch them before they’re released in theaters or on streaming services. But dozens more are independent films without distribution that came to the festivals looking to be discovered. This year, over 200 movies made their world premieres across the Venice Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival, and we’ve seen some big name movie sales across all four.

Right as Venice got underway, we saw U.S. deals for two of the biggest competition titles on the slate, Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” to Netflix and Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” to A24. A24 also picked up the rights to Venice Silver Lion winner “The Brutalist” in a competitive situation. And some of the hottest discoveries like “Nutcrackers,” “September 5,” and TIFF Audience...

Bleecker Street has acquired North American rights to Telluride Film Festival world premiere The Friend starring Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, and Bing the Great Dane.

Scott McGehee and David Siegel co-wrote and co-directed the drama, which also played Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and New York Film Festival.

Watts plays writer and teacher Iris, whose comfortable, solitary New York life is thrown into disarray when her closest friend and mentor (Murray) dies suddenly and bequeaths her his beloved Great Dane. Iris eventually bonds with the beast and reconciles with the past and her creative inner life.

The ensemble cast includes Sarah Pidgeon,...

Bleecker Street has taken North American rights to the Scott McGehee and David Siegel directed and written feature, The Friend, starring Naomi Watts, Bill Murray and a Great Dane named Bing. A 2025 theatrical release is planned.

The film marks Bleecker Street’s second collaboration with Siegel & McGehee, having handled the US release of their 2021 neo-Western drama Montana Story, starring Haley Lu Richardson and Owen Teague.

In The Friend, writer and teacher Iris (Watts) finds her comfortable, solitary New York life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor (Murray) dies suddenly and bequeaths her his beloved 150 lb. Great Dane. The regal yet intractable beast, named Apollo, immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones, his looming presence constantly reminding her of her friend’s problematic choices in both life and death. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with the animal,...

Naomi Watts and a very big dog are heading to cinemas.

“The Friend,” a touching drama about a writer and editor whose literary mentor commits suicide and leaves her with his Great Dane to care for, has been acquired by Bleecker Street. The indie studio has nabbed North American distribution rights for an undisclosed sum — the sale took some time, which is something of a surprise given that “The Friend” received strong reviews when it showed at fall film festivals like Telluride and Toronto. It’s another reminder that studios are being more cautious when it comes to buying projects post-covid. The indie and arthouse theatrical market is still struggling to fully rebound from pandemic disruptions.

“The Friend” was written and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, the team behind “The Deep End” and “What Maisie Knew,” and co-stars Bill Murray, Sarah Pidgeon, Carla Gugino, Constance Wu, Noma Dumezweni and Ann Dowd.

The Friend, a grief drama from writer/directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel about a writer mourning her late pal while dealing with the Great Dane dog he left behind, and starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray, has been picked up by Bleecker Street.

Having taken the North American rights to the pic, Bleecker plans an early 2025 theatrical release for the adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s novel. Watts plays Iris, a writer and teacher grieving over the sudden loss of her best friend, Walter (Bill Murray), only to learn he has left her Apollo, a giant dog who almost comes up to her waist.

As Iris unexpectedly bonds with the dog, she begins to come to terms with her past, her lost friend and her own creative inner life. The ensemble cast for the film about life, death and friendship includes Sarah Pidgeon, Carla Gugino, Constance Wu, Noma Dumezweni and Ann Dowd.

Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton give luxuriously self-aware performances as two old friends who are reunited in a doggedly mysterious drama

When this film won the Golden Lion for Pedro Almodóvar at the Venice film festival this summer, there were three kinds of surprised critic. Some were surprised to learn that this was Almodóvar’s first ever major European festival award; others that this should be the film to finally bag it … and then there were those who were politely surprised that it should have won anything at all. I myself found it as extravagant and engrossing and doggedly mysterious as anything he has done recently, with luxuriously self-aware performances from Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, and an undertow of darkness often overlooked by yeasayers and naysayers.

It is his first English-language feature, scripted by Almodóvar himself, adapting Sigrid Nunez’s novel What Are You Going Through. Though set in the US,...

While Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton have different style preferences, both Oscar-winning actors wore edgy silhouettes that reflected their taste in fashion at the Madrid photocall for their upcoming Spanish drama film, The Room Next Door.

Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton at the Madrid photocall for their Spanish drama movie, The Room Next Door (Credit: Sean Thornton / Cover Images)

The Room Next Door: A Story of Life, Death, and Friendship

The Room Next Door, the first-ever Spanish film to be awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival in September, follows the friendship between Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton). They were close friends when they were younger, but life’s circumstances kept them apart; Martha became a war reporter, and Ingrid an autofictional novelist.

Following years of separation, “they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.” Martha is seen in the hospital battling cancer,...

Siegel and McGeheeDavid Siegel and Scott McGehee’s wondrous and sage The Friend (spiritedly adapted from the National Book Award winning novel by Sigrid Nunez and a highlight in the Spotlight programme of the 62nd New York Film Festival) stars Naomi Watts as Iris, an author in New York City who loses her best friend Walter (Bill Murray) to suicide and inherits his majestic Harlequin Great Dane Apollo (played by the scene- and heart-stealing Bing).

After already having thrown the advice by Wc Fields to never work with children or animals to the wind with their beautiful Henry James adaptation What Maisie Knew, Siegel and McGehee fully embrace the tale of a friendship that belies our dominant anthropocentrism. “How can you explain death to a dog?” Iris, as well as the nameless narrator in the Nunez novel know some important truths about...

Tilda Swinton with Julianne Moore at The Room Next Door New York Film Festival press conference: “I’ve always believed that there are three things that will always get you through: Art, friendship, and nature.” Photo: Anne Katrin Titze

Pedro Almodóvar ’s first feature in English, The Room Next Door (adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s What Are You Going Through and Golden Lion winner at the Venice International Film Festival), starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton with John Turturro, Alex Høgh Andersen, and Alessandro Nivola, was the Centerpiece Gala selection highlight of the 62nd New York Film Festival and will have its UK premiere at the London Film Festival this week. Film at Lincoln Center has announced that Pedro is the recipient of the 50th Chaplin Award. The Gala ceremony will take place on April 28, 2025.

Tilda Swinton on Pedro Almodóvar: “Everybody in Pedro’s films dressed not only for each other but for Pedro!

Writer-director duo Scott McGehee and David Siegel have been working together for 30 years, since their debut thrilled Suture in 1994. Since then, they’ve only made seven films, with their latest being The Friend, a comedy-drama adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s award-winning novel. Starring Naomi Watts and a Great Dane named Bing, the film follows a woman grieving the suicide of her friend, mentor, and lover, spending the immediate aftermath with his dog who is now in her care. It’s a light film, deriving much of its emotional core from Bing, a dog with great big eyes to match his great big size. The film hinges on moments between Watts and her new pet, silences in which the two share a special bond of mourning.

McGehee and Siegel have been living in New York for decades. Siegel himself is from Brooklyn. The two attempt to capture the hectic nature of the city,...

Pedro Almodóvar’s free and fabulous adaptation of the novel What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez is his first feature in English and a celebration of life’s miraculousness face-to-face with death. The duo of Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton display an inner and outer beauty that lifts a tale of dying into an unforeseen realm, where friendship and care and appreciation of the world reign.

At a book signing, author Ingrid (Moore) learns from an acquaintance that her old friend Martha (Swinton), a war correspondent, is seriously ill in the hospital. Soon the two of them bond as if the time that passed since they last saw each other didn’t exist. Their exquisite faces fill the screen (cinematography by Eduard Grau) and the, as always in Almodóvar’s films, vibrant garments (costume design by Bina Daigeler) and eye-catching sets (by Inbal Weinberg with art direction by...