Naomi Watts Mourns Mentor Bill Murray and Inherits a Great Dane in Festival Favorite ‘The Friend’ — Watch Trailer

Naomi Watts reunites with her “St. Vincent” co-star Bill Murray for one of the buzziest 2024 festival favorites, indie dramedy “The Friend.”

The feature debuted at Telluride where it was acquired by Bleecker Street, and later screened at TIFF and NYFF. Watts stars as Iris, a woman who finds her comfortable New York life upended when her friend and mentor Walter (Murray) bequeaths her his Great Dane, Apollo.

The official synopsis reads: “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.”

Sarah Pidgeon, Carla Gugino, Constance Wu, Noma Dumezweni, Ann Dowd, Felix Solis, and Owen Teague co-star. Breakout canine actor Bing, the central 150 lb. Great Dane, also made the festival rounds.

“The Friend” is based on Sigrid Nunez’s 2018 National Book Award-winning novel. To note, this was the second Nunez adaptation in 2024: Nunez is also the author of the book that inspired Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door.”

David Siegel and Scott McGehee cowrote and co-directed “The Friend.” This is their second feature to be released by Bleecker Street after 2021 neo-Western drama “Montana Story.”Both Siegel and McGehee produced the film, along with Liza Chasin and Mike Spreter. Lead star Watts and Margaret Chernin executive produced the feature, as well.

The IndieWire review praised “The Friend” for being a quintessential New York film. “In the present of ‘The Friend,’ Walter has recently died, leaving both Apollo and Iris, his “best friend,” former student, and one-time lover, to pick up the pieces. That may sound dark, but despite setting ‘The Friend’ in a period of profound grief for both its human and canine leads, Siegel and McGehee’s film is fleet and funny, the kind of slice-of-life New York film we’re used to getting from the Nicole Holofceners of the world (of which we need more, to be sure),” IndieWire’s Kate Erbland wrote in the review.

“The Friend” premieres in New York theaters on March 21 and expands nationwide on April 4. Check out the trailer below.