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“Idiots” Film Details
- Director(s): Macon Blair
- Writer(s): Macon Blair
- Based On Work By: Alex Orr
- Runtime: 1 Hour(s) and 38 Minutes
- Public Release Date (In Theaters): August 28, 2026
- Genre(s): Adventure, Comedy, Crime
- Content Rating: Rated R
- Primary Language: English
- Images © of / Courtesy Of Independent Film Company
Movie Summary
Mark and Davis are an unlikely pair and unlucky duo. Davis is hard-working, but lacks survival skills, common sense, or maybe both. Mark? He’s not necessarily entitled, but it does seem that he wants to have a good time and only work as hard as necessary.
The combination of these two and their traits makes them ill-equipped to handle someone like Sheridan. He is a rich kid who is supposed to go to a rehabilitation center, but Sheridan isn’t just privileged – he is HIGHLY reckless. Thus pushing Mark and Davis to their wits’ end, and even putting them in life-and-death situations involving drugs, the odd folk who live in Virginia, and so much more.
Cast and Characters
Mark (Dave Franco)
- Character Summary: Mark is a bit of a slacker, a drug enthusiast, who still recognizes that, to make ends meet, he needs a job. But he isn’t trying to work hard or have the job get in the way of his favorite hobby.
Davis (O’Shea Jackson Jr.)
- Character Summary: Davis is Presbyterian and used to work for his church. However, a lack of common sense led him to work for a company that delivers kids to rehab. It isn’t the best job, but at the very least, it pays, and Davis can be good at it. Just as long as his kind nature isn’t taken advantage of.
Sheridan (Mason Thames)
- Character Summary: Sheridan is the son of a wealthy family who is a known menace. Between parties and acts which present him as your stereotypical rich sociopath, he is legitimately dangerous. However, beneath all his issues might be a decent person.
Irina (Kiernan Shipka)
- Character Summary: Irina is a stripper by day, inspiring singer by night, working different types of events to make ends meet.
Koko (Peter Dinklage)
- Character Summary: Koko is an eccentric person, the leader of a group that lives in Virginia and isn’t above using guns and other measures to get things done.
Joe aka Pricka Bush da Werewolf (Nicholas Braun)
- Character Summary: Joe is a rapper, werewolf enthusiast, and one of Koko’s minions who is a bit unhinged. He is also one of Sheridan’s biggest fans.
Review and Commentary
Highlight(s)
The Setup Is Good [82/100]
Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr. have marvelous chemistry, and the setup of Mark being a drug-loving slacker paired with Davis being a religious, hardworking man who lacks common sense works. Especially since Davis’ faith plays a part but isn’t a crutch for any of the jokes’ setup. If anything, it helps you understand why he struggles to do bad things, or does good things even when the situation has infinite ways it could go wrong.
Thus, Mark seems like he would balance Davis out, but in reality, he just makes the situation more chaotic. Then, throw in Mason Thames as Sheridan? Oh, this trio leads to many a comedic situation, especially as Sheridan removes his mask and allows Mark and Davis to meet the real him. Not this mischievous rich kid, but an absolute menace who might be a sociopath.
On The Fence
Even At Barely 90 Minutes, It Overstays Its Welcome [72/100]
Idiots is another example of a movie that didn’t need 90 minutes, but because that is the requirement to be considered a full-length film, it stretches to that length. What doesn’t help is that, on the journey to take Sheridan to rehab, we meet two sets of characters. There is the stripper who wants to be a singer, Irina, and then we switch over to Koko and his crazy family.
These two chapters have very different comedic rhythms, and I’d submit that Koko’s family is when things get a bit over the top and the movie begins to burn itself out. With Irina, it is still a bit of an odd movie, but it stays in the pocket. It’s funny and has the potential to be sweet. With Koko’s family, it just gets weird, and being funny is sent to the wayside.
I’d especially point out Nicholas Braun as Joe, or his alter ego Pricka Bush da Werewolf. His scenes took the fun out of the movie and made me check my watch. For as much as they could be seen as yet another zany character the State of Virginia offers, they spend way too much time on his eccentricities, double down on them, and make it seem the inclusion of Koko’s family was to add some name recognition rather than those characters being what the movie needed.
Overall
Our Rating (77/100): Mixed (Divisive)
What works in Idiots is the foundation of Mark and Davis trying to get Sheridan to rehab and the people they meet as Sheridan tries to escape. The problem is that the characters introduced aren’t equal, and unfortunately, the precedent set by Irina makes it so that, when you meet Koko’s crew, it isn’t only different but also lesser in value to the film. Add in that the movie doesn’t fully recover, and that’s why this is labeled as “Mixed (Divisive).”
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