Will & Harper Review: Comedy and Camaraderie Can Heal the Soul

Note: This advance review is from the Toronto International Film Festival and may contain spoilers.

In an industry where acts of kindness can be tools to further one’s celebrity platform, Will & Harper is a refreshingly genuine and heartwarming tale from the unlikeliest places.

It bundles all the beauty of friendship and humanity into one wholesome road trip comedy filled with laughs and famous friends. Like a warm hug from Buddy the Elf or a cup of soup when you feel down, this documentary provides a safe space to discuss challenging subject matter with curiosity.

This courageous transgender woman’s story of acceptance is a beautiful example of what happens when we love without prejudice.

Will & Harper follows actor Will Ferrell and writer Harper Steele, two best friends who started on Saturday Night Live the same week. When Will’s friends sent an email during the pandemic explaining they would be transitioning from a man to a woman, Ferrell wrote back to let Harper know he was here for her.

Thus, the two decided to reunite for a road trip, hoping that Will could help Harper feel a little safer as she rekindles her joy for exploring America while facing the hurdles of her new identity as a woman.

Despite working on SNL and a particular brand of straight-male films together, Will and Harper’s documentary taps into an authentic humor that breaks up the tension of their journey’s more emotional conversations and upsetting missteps.

Ferrell establishes some adorable recurring jokes about Pringles and Dunkin Donuts, but ultimately, his conscious decision not to hog the spotlight is more successful than any bit.

As is the expert directing and editing of this documentary.

Ferrell and Steele joke that they didn’t think there was enough of anything to make a film. Thankfully, Director Josh Greenbaum does an excellent job highlighting the beauty of their mundane outing. This film is built on casual conversations and quiet epiphanies.

Even though the narrative can slow to a near halt at times, Greenbaum keeps this story trucking along at a soothing pace. Instead of spicing things up, the direction stays in its peaceful bubble, even if there’s a more exciting story to tell elsewhere.

The film’s most impactful moments can be negative, as Ferrell’s fame attracts unwanted attention from online trolls or anti-trans politicians. While the documentary expertly builds to these moments to hit us with a dose of reality, the project never lingers in them long.

It goes out of its way to demonstrate that hate is not reality, even if that is what so many of us are seeing in politics and online.

Here lies the most outstanding thread the film follows as Harper wearily ventures into the more close-minded areas of America, expecting hostility. Instead, she is met with kindness. The takeaway is that we are not built to hate, and when people come face to face with the differences they are told to fear, they still choose kindness.

Additionally, there is an engaging and eye-opening discussion about why people feel the need to transition that can help so many of us better understand what transgender people have to face.

The film acknowledges that so many of us do not have transgender friends, and, like Ferrell, we don’t necessarily understand the choice to transition. Steele handles the role of a gracious tour guide through the topic with a refreshing honesty and humility that cannot go without its flowers.

Steele is the brave star of this project, and without her, Will & Harper wouldn’t shine. She shares her inner monologue, fashion and name struggles, and even the journal entries she wrote when she was at her lowest point.

However, in making this noble sacrifice and putting herself on display, Harper starts a crucial conversation about the “whys” of transitioning and highlights ways to make the process easier.

One of the most powerful moments is when a therapist comes clean to Harper about the guilt she feels for telling a client his desire to transition was just a phase. Harper explains that for her, it got to a point where she felt so unhappy as a man, and if her therapist had taken those feelings seriously, she might have found answers sooner.

It is a profound conversation that will hopefully make mental health professionals consider their role in stigmas surrounding LGBTQ+ communities.

Before this project, I didn’t have the privilege of knowing Steele beyond her writing. That said, I have grown up knowing Ferrell and was shocked to learn he was attached to a documentary about a trans woman’s coming of age.

I mean, we know Ferrell best for his beloved Christmas flick Elf, SNL sketches, and raunchy, straight-male comedies. But would we expect the lead of Step Brothers to go out of his way to listen and make his transgender friends feel safe in male-dominated environments? Not exactly.

We have come to expect ignorance from his generation of comedians — which we must tolerate if we don’t want to ruin every childhood movie for ourselves. And yet, here he is, an unexpected ally who helped create a beautiful love letter to the transgender experience.

Knowing Ferrell is a good friend, and a fellow ally is enough to make us sleep better at night. Ultimately, his celebrity is only one cog in the success of this soulful tale and not nearly as important as the other hats he needs to wear in this film.

Unexpectedly, Ferrell is a quiet, mindful presence throughout the documentary. He takes a back seat, establishing himself as the listener, while Harper takes the wheel.

The actor asks questions, supports his friend, and, most importantly, teaches viewers how important the active listener role is in these relationships to make someone who is struggling feel validated.

The role of the listener and learning might be Ferrell’s most important to date, not just because it changes our perspective of him as a person for the better (and that’s always nice) but also because it demonstrates that anyone can cast themselves in this role too.

Ferrell cares about the impact art like this can have on the world and is passionate about his friend’s story. The documentary is made with good intentions and, as such, can exist in a space of authenticity that will make you laugh and cry with ferocity.

If I had to have one critique, this documentary could have used more cowbell.

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Will & Harper premieres September 27 on Netflix.

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