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What do A24’s 2025 movies “Friendship” and “Warfare” have in common, besides the fact that they both bear titles that are weirdly hard to Google?\u00a0They’re both crushing it right now on HBO Max.<\/p>\n
According to reports on FlixPatrol<\/a>, “Warfare” is currently occupying the top spot for movies on HBO Max’s charts, with “Friendship” coming in at number two. Besides the fact that they both come from A24, these two movies frankly couldn’t be more different. Still, this is great news for the independent production company, which has been releasing hit after hit after hit for years now.<\/p>\n In case you’re unfamiliar with A24 \u2014 or you like their movies but don’t know a whole lot about the company itself \u2014 let’s go over that really quickly. Founded in 2012, it picked up steam one year after that with the hit “Spring Breakers,” and in the years since, they’ve released hugely popular and critically adored films<\/a> like “Hereditary,” “Room,”\u00a0“Ex Machina,”\u00a0“Civil War,”\u00a0“Lady Bird,”\u00a0and “Uncut Gems,” just to name a few … and their 2022 movie “Everything Everywhere All At Once” even managed to win the studio its first best picture Oscar at the 2023 ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>\n So here’s what you need to know, specifically, about “Warfare” and “Friendship” before you go check them out on HBO Max, where they’re topping viewership charts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Warfare is an unbelievably dark look at the titular subject by Alex Garland<\/p>\n
A24<\/p>\n First, let’s tackle “Warfare,” which received a wide release on April 11, 2025, and is the second film about American carnage by Alex Garland (who released “Civil War,” a vision of a deeply divided and extremely violent United States, in 2024). This time, Garland co-directed and co-wrote the film with Ray Mendoza, a real-life veteran who served as a Navy SEAL during the Iraq War and helped bring his own harrowing experiences to the big screen.<\/p>\n “Reservation Dogs” standout\u00a0D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai plays Mendoza himself, who’s working as a military communications officer in 2006 \u2014 also in Iraq \u2014 alongside fellow soldiers that include Corpsman Elliott Miller (also a real person, who’s played by “Shogun” star Cosmo Jarvis), sniper Frank (Taylor John Smith), and gunner Tommy (“Heartstopper” star Kit Connor), and\u00a0USMC Lieutenant ‘Mac’ McDonald (Michael Gandolfini), just to name a few. The film takes place “in real time” as Mendoza and his men try to keep an eye on a mission in Ramadi when they find out that enemy forces have issued a call to arms to attack them.<\/p>\n “Warfare” is harrowing, brilliant at times, and a searing look at Mendoza’s time serving the United States. Ultimately, Garland’s movie was a success \u2014 which isn’t surprising, considering his pretty great track record with movies like “Ex Machina,”\u00a0“Annihilation,” and the aforementioned “Civil War” \u2014 earning a positive review from \/Film’s own Jacob Hall<\/a> and earning a decently respectable amount at the box office<\/a>. Definitely check out “Warfare” if you’re looking for a high-octane and incredibly intense viewing experience, but if you want something both lighter and decidedly weirder, consider checking out “Friendship.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Friendship is a weird, wild, and ultimately pretty wonderful movie about obsession<\/p>\n
A24<\/p>\n As for “Friendship,” which came out shortly after “Warfare” on May 23, 2025, and was written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, it stars Tim Robinson \u2014 and if you’re at all familiar with Robinson’s work on his eponymous Netflix sketch series “I Think You Should Leave,” you can probably ascertain what “Friendship” is like. (It\u00a0does feel like a really long “I Think You Should Leave” sketch, but as a\u00a0huge fan of the show and Robinson’s work across the board, I actually don’t think this is a bad thing at all.) Craig Waterman, played by Robinson, is living a perfectly mundane existence with his wife Tami (a strangely perfect Kate Mara) and his son Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer), a weird kid who kisses his mom on the mouth … but that all changes when he meets his new neighbor Austin Carmichael (a gorgeously strange Paul Rudd). Craig is totally drawn in by Austin’s carefree attitude and apparently worldliness, but after a hangout at Austin’s house with a bunch of his other friends goes horribly wrong, Craig finds himself ostracized. From that point on, Craig makes increasingly desperate and frankly insane attempts to win Austin back, even basically ignoring her own wife when she gets trapped in a sewer. (Long-ish story. Just watch it.)<\/p>\n “Friendship” is a unique, offbeat, and outrageously funny little movie that performed solidly with critics (including \/Film’s Michael Boyle<\/a>, who gave the film a rave review after seeing its South by Southwest premiere) and decently at the box office<\/a> (particularly for such a small indie movie), but I’ll warn you: you kind of\u00a0have to like Robinson’s cringy, weird style of comedy. If you do, though?\u00a0You’re in for a treat.<\/p>\n Both “Warfare” and “Friendship” are streaming on HBO Max now.<\/p>\n
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