Co-writers-directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel adopt Sigrid Nunez’ 2018 National Book Award-winning novel, The Friend, for the big screen. After the death of her friend and mentor, Walter (Bill Murray), solitary writer Iris (Naomi Watts) reluctantly agrees to temporarily adopt his Great Dane, Apollo (Bing), believing she’ll soon rehome him. Instead, she begins to bond with the dog and come to terms with her own past. (119 min.)
Glen Bill Murray and a dog? Say no more. I’m in. This sentimental tale of love and loss presses all the right emotional buttons while verging on but not quite spilling over into treacle. Murray’s Walter is in the film, but it’s really Iris’ story. Well, her story and Apollo’s, a magnificent Great Dane with soulful eyes and a forlorn disposition. The film opens at a party where Walter is regaling a group of writers and publishing types about how he found and rescued Apollo. If you’ve seen the trailer or heard anything about the film, it’s not giving anything away to reveal Walter commits suicide, leaving behind a wife (Noma Dumezweni) and two exes—wife one (Carla Gugino) and wife two (Sue Jean Kim). From yet another lover, there’s also Walter’s formerly estranged daughter, Val (Sarah Pidgeon), who came back into his life. The story busies itself with exploring how one heals in the wake of a death.
Anna Iris is a “cat person” without a cat, living in a rent-controlled apartment with a strict No Dogs rule. Let’s face it, there’s no sneaking a 150-pound dog-pony in and out of the building. Iris also has a case of writer’s block, and she’s grieving because of the beast that is loss. The loss of her best friend, her mentor, her guiding light. Apollo, too, is deep in the depths of his grief—his favorite person closed the door and never came back out, and that must be hard to both understand and forgive for a creature that spends its life devoted to its master. If you make a dog a main character, you’re generally going for laughs or for tears, and if you are lucky, you get both. This film manages both and is sentimental and sappy in all the right ways. Watts carries this introspective piece with gusto. Life is complicated, even more so when we’re left to put the pieces together after an unexpected loss. But in that completely corny way that movies show us, maybe it takes falling apart to find a way to put ourselves back together again.
Glen Watts is amazing and does some of the best work of her astonishing career. Iris sees a therapist to ask about how to make Apollo into a therapy dog, and he asks her if Walter were here, what would you want to tell him. He reminds her she’s a writer, so she should write about it. That sets up an incredible third act moment where she gets to imagine having a conversation with Walter, and Watts and Murray deliver an incredibly poignant moment of healing for Iris. Processing loss is hard work, especially when you lose someone as complicated and imperfect as Walter was. More importantly, Iris discovers in Apollo what unconditional love is. Dogs listen without judgment. They love without reservation. They forgive without prejudice.
Anna A dog like Apollo is impractical for pretty much everyone, especially a New Yorker. Iris tries to find a solution that gives Apollo somewhere else to be, but nothing fits. When Iris learns that Apollo likes to be read to, her heart softens to the big oaf that has taken over her bed. Life changes so much when we start letting others in. One thing about dogs is we don’t get them forever, and the twilight of this film shifts from Iris figuring out how to live with Apollo to how she will ever live without him. Cue the tears! Δ
Arts Editor Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Split Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Summer Guide 2025.