Dakota Johnson is certainly a terrific actress, but unfortunately, the work of hers that gets the most buzz isn’t her best. She shot to fame with 50 Shades of Grey and, most recently, received probably the most attention of her career for her hilariously disengaged press tour for the Sony Marvel movie, Madame Web. Despite doing great work in Luca Guadgningo’s transfixing erotic thriller A Bigger Splash and the intense remake of the Giallo classic Suspiria, Johnson is typically linked to the bigger titles that made more of an impact with the press. It’s disappointing, as Johnson doesn’t just have the potential to be a queen of the art house circuit, but a mainstream movie star capable of appearing in solid commercial hits. While it sadly wasn’t the breakout hit that it could have been with either audiences or awards voters, the based-on-a-true story drama Our Friend contains one of Johnson’s best performances.
The “cancer dramedy” subgenre has grown increasingly popular in the last few decades, and it’s easy to see why. Films like The Fault in Our Stars use the disease in order to serve as a traditional teen romantic drama, and more overtly comedic fare like 50/50 can use the terminal disease element to invoke a darker sense of humor. It’s interesting to note the niche nature of these films, but they run the risk of creating a formula that doesn’t apply to every specific situation. Our Friend is a painfully honest examination of disease and familial dysfunction that also features the most heartbreaking performances of Johnson’s career.
