Idiots

Unemployed, experiencing a crisis of faith and a general malaise, between them, Mark (Dave Franco) and Davis (O’Shea Jackson Jr) have officially hit rock bottom. In a desperate attempt to find a morsel of solace and rectitude, the two unite to do a very simple job: transport an unruly teenager to rehab. However, this youth is no ordinary individual. Sheridan (Mason Thames) is an enormous media influencer who gained his notoriety by being a total badass and pain to society, so Mark and Davis have their work cut out if they are to even survive, let alone complete the job.

The stoner comedy genre feels like a real blast from the past. The heyday of Cheech and Chong, Harold and Kumar and Pineapple Express might be long gone, but Idiots does its best to remind the viewer what has been missing. Director Macon Blair unites a cast that can bring this chaotic script to life, and where better to begin than with Franco and Jackson Jr? While their characters spend the majority of the film detesting each other’s existence, they make for a surprisingly iconic duo and one that the viewer can invest in as they embark on this treacherous task of handling a teenager.

The rest of the cast is equally as colourful, with Kiernan Shipka delivering the best of the bunch as a Russian stripper seeking revenge for the actions of the delightfully detestable Thames, and there are some lively and entertaining cameos in the form of Peter Dinklage and Nicholas Braun. It is at this point, however, that cracks begin to appear. The plot takes numerous dramatic twists as the heroes take this road trip, and while there are big moments of hilarious chaos, they come at the cost of never painting a bigger picture.

Stylistically, the film flits between grungy and comedic, but never fully identifies itself strongest in either camp. The scripting is also hugely problematic, choosing to hurtle through a million things at 100 miles an hour, yet never taking time to work on developing its characters. Mark is pretty much a bum from the get-go and still a bum come the end credits, and Davis’s ulterior motives, revealed in the opening scene, are left relatively unexplored and generally quite irrelevant.

The other issue with Idiots is a serious handicap for a stoner comedy: it isn’t funny enough. One would expect the film to be a laugh-a-minute romp, but aside from the large set pieces, there is a lot of dead air between them that for the viewer becomes a bit dull. So, has this type of stoner comedy seen its day? Perhaps, but Idiots does its best to remind viewers that the genre is still out there somewhere if one is prepared to look for it, and there will surely be people out there willing to do so.

Guy Lambert

Idiots is released in select cinemas on 2^nd October 2026.

Watch the trailer for Idiots here: