In an exceptional vote of confidence for taste—and progress—in America, the gorgeous, hilarious, and incredibly urgent documentary Will & Harper has been in the Top 10 of Netflix’s most watched movies since it premiered on the platform on Friday.
The road trip film follows Will Ferrell and Harper Steele, one of Ferrell’s closest friends from their time on Saturday Night Live, as they cross the country to reacquaint themselves with one another after Harper transitioned. The raves the film won after its premiere at Sundance in January have been unanimously echoed since it's been available to stream. Its frank look at how people in different parts of the country feel about the transgender community, and how a transgender person reckons with feeling both finally free and, sometimes, ostracized living out publicly.
Owing to Ferrell and especially Steele’s candor and humor, the film manages to be remarkably accessible and entertaining while educational in a way that, at the risk of sounding trite or hyperbolic, could legitimately save lives. One key to the film’s accessibility is its familiarity. That, of course begins with Ferrell, who proves an exceptional audience surrogate, approaching his questions and conversations with Steele with the empathetic curiosity—and mischievous edge—necessary to open up the astounding dialogue that is the throughline of the film.
