All My Friends Hate Me review – a paranoid comedy-horror of the mind

In John Mulaney’s 2018 show Kid Gorgeous at Radio City, the comedian explains how his college years were underlined by a single question: “Do my friends hate me or do I just need to go to sleep?” Throughout Andrew Gaynord's debut feature All My Friends Hate Me, the same question concerns Pete (screenwriter and star Tom Stourton), a thirtysomething reuniting with his college pals in what amounts to an exquisitely tempered and brilliantly dark and uncomfortable comedy-horror.

It begins with Pete arriving at an empty manor house – not at all the warm birthday welcome he was expecting. When his friends return from the pub the weekend of celebration can finally begin, yet no one, it seems, can agree where they left off. But as the night progresses, the group find it easier to reminisce on their past – the golden years of snorting powders and drinking alcoholic concoctions – than connect in the awkward present.

With Pete’s girlfriend Sonia (Charly Clive) due to arrive the next day, Pete must spend the entire night in the company of his four pals: the painfully pompous Archie (Graham Dickson), the disgustingly rich George (Joshua McGuire) and his extravagant wife Fig (Georgina Campbell), and Pete’s changeable ex, Claire (Antonia Clarke). Also in tow is Harry (Dustin Demri-Burns), a local, unassuming gentleman who the gang plucked from the pub, who quickly becomes the root of Pete’s paranoia.

Sleeping on the chaise lounge in the corner of Pete’s room, Harry serves as Pete’s sleep paralysis demon, notepad perpetually in hand to jot down Pete’s every move and word. The once smoothly sweeping shots of this grand mansion are now squirming handhelds as cinematographer Ben Moulden captures Pete as he succumbs to his fears. One by one, for seemingly for no reason, the household turns against him.

Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton’s script moves with purpose and vigour while the uncomfortable atmosphere mounts. Pete’s nightmares bleed into reality and anxiety creeps into an inescapable presence lodged into his mind. Is it just Pete’s sleep-deprived mind or is he awake in a nightmare? The line becomes fuzzier by the minute and increasingly excruciating to watch as he navigates his social paranoia, the psychological terror imbued with a stark British humour, laughs that offer a brief intermission from the discomfort. It is a film about the horrors of class identity, reunions, and social anxiety made wonderfully watchable.

All My Friends Hate Me was screened as part of the BFI London Film Festival 2021. It is released in UK cinemas on 10 June.