Will & Harper (2024)

IMDb plot summary: In this intimate portrayal of friendship, transition and America, Will Ferrell and his close friend of thirty years decide to go on a cross-country road trip to explore a new chapter in their relationship.

Directed by Josh Greenbaum.

Will and Harper is a documentary following actor Will Ferrell and his friendship with an SNL writer who came out as transgender after the pandemic. Now Will and his old friend Harper are going on a road trip together, partly so Harper can explore her love of traveling from her new perspective as a trans woman, and partly so that Will can learn about her experience and whether this is going to change anything about their friendship. This is a really sweet movie. It doesn't try to sensationalize anything, it doesn't try to set Harper up as some sort of melodramatic martyr. She's just a woman trying to live her regular life, and sometimes she ends up in situations where people don't want her to do that. Will asks the well-meaning questions that many folks who are not close to transgender people might have in their brains, and she gives her an answer from her experience, although obviously that isn't going to apply to every trans woman, but the film does a great job of trying to explain this perspective. Seeing the love and support of Harper's old friends rallying around her now that they know her under a new name and a new identity is really beautiful. Sometimes, maybe especially today, we really just need to see stories of people being treated kindly, and this is one of those.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Will & Harper (2024)

beat The Perks of Being a Wallflower (#1993 → #1997)

lost to Take This Waltz (#994 → #850)

beat The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (#1492 → #1528)

beat Ran (#1242 → #1258)

beat Nina Wu (#1118 → #1136)

beat Minority Report (#1056 → #1078)

beat Apollo 13 (#1025 → #1028)

lost to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (held at #1009)

lost to The Ten Commandments (#1017 → #1016)

beat Match Point (#1021 → #1048)

lost to 42 Up (#1019 → #1018)

lost to Summer Holiday (#1020 → #851)

📊 Ranked #1047/3991 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 73.