In 2020 years, Gabriela Cowperthwaite‘s “Our Friend” came out ages ago. However, this life-affirming film about friendship, family, love, and loss debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019. Starring Jason Segel, Dakota Johnson, and Casey Affleck, the film was simply titled “The Friend” back then, and centered on a married couple, and family, Matthew and Nicole Teague (Affleck and Johnson), dealing with the news that Nicole only has six months to live after a terminal cancer diagnosis. After learning the news, the couple’s best friend (Segel) moves into their home and puts his life on hold to help them in any way possible.
It’s a film with lots of heartbreak, laughter, and heart and soul, and a movie about resolve and the unbreakable bonds of friendship. The film is based on Matthew Teague’s 2015 Esquire article of the same name, in which the author recounts the last two years of his wife Nicole’s life following her terminal cancer diagnosis and how his best friend became part of the family and co-parent to their children, something selfless, but ultimately difficult on everyone too.
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Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite is known for the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which exposed the violent injustice inflicted on a captive orca at SeaWorld, and her narrative debut “Megan Leavey” in 2017, starring Kate Mara, retelling the relationship between Corporal Megan Leavey and military working dog Rex.
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OUR FRIEND tells the inspiring and extraordinary true story of the Teague family—journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his vibrant wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson), and their two young daughters—and how their lives are upended by Nicole’s heartbreaking diagnosis of terminal cancer. As Matt’s responsibilities as caretaker and parent become increasingly overwhelming, the couple’s best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel) offers to come and help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life-altering decision proves greater and more profound than anyone could have imagined.
While it’s been delayed for over a year, Universal Pictures is finally putting out “Our Friend.” Gravitas Ventures & Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will release “Our Friend” in select theaters and at home on demand on January 22, 2021. Watch the first trailer below.