A conversation on Saturday Night Live and the comedians who have achieved the longevity and Hollywood cachet many long for is almost certain to include superstar Will Ferrell.
Using this name recognition, Will & Harper tells a classic story of friendship, bringing audiences something not often seen in big productions: the layer of a friend who has recently transitioned.
The documentary follows SNL alumni Will Ferrell and Harper Steele, who connected on their first day of work almost three decades ago. Steele has recently transitioned, and the pair decide to take a road trip across the country to renew their friendship after the isolation of the pandemic.
It’s a well-produced piece by director Josh Greenbaum, with cinematic shots of nature vistas neatly tied together with more intimate shots of Ferrell and Steele that almost transport the audience into their wood-panelled four-wheeler. It mostly follows through, bringing perspectives of trans experience and allyship to a wider audience in a familiar buddy comedy format.
Big-name cameos and a dramatic score at times make the documentary feel more like a narrative fiction piece, with some scenes feeling too orchestrated for two friends on the road.
For a film with the difficult task of capturing two friends driving cross country with a figure as recognizable as Ferrell, those moments are kept brief and don’t detract significantly from the overarching personal storytelling and emotional moments presented to the audience.
The documentary jumps into action at the recent height of the COVID-19 pandemic, where the duo is isolated, and Ferrell finds out through email about Steele transitioning.
Since her transition, Steele and Ferrell both wonder how their friendship might change, and how to have conversations and ask questions that are potentially uncomfortable.
Steele, who grew up in Iowa and now lives in upstate New York, faces a lot of questions on how her old lifestyle of going to underground bars and roadside motels might clash with her new appearance.
To renew their friendship and explore the next chapter, the duo decides to embark on a road trip across the country from New York City to Los Angeles, with all the important stops in between.
The documentary strikes a personal tone, creating the feeling of being the person in the back seat of Steele and Ferrell’s Grand Wagoneer.
Driving on the freeway Steele reads out old entries from her journal, giving frank insight into the struggles of coming to terms with gender identity after being suppressed by herself and others since childhood.
She talks about having suicidal thoughts, and often wanting to leave the everyday life and go elsewhere to have the privacy and ability to be her true self.
Ferrell often cedes the spotlight to listen, letting Steele tell her story rather than the other way around. Between the moments of deep sadness, the two friends support and comfort each other, and Ferrell occasionally inserts some comedic relief needed for both the subjects and the audience.
In Iowa, the two return to Steele’s childhood home and reconnect with her sister. Over a can of chips, they look at old pictures, connecting the dots through poignant memories of Steele feeling uncomfortable in her body and brushing it off as a weirdness everyone feels.
At a steak house in Texas, Steele and Ferrell receive hate and negative attention that catches up to them the next morning. Sitting in foldout chairs on the side of the road, Steele explains how negative attacks are now a constant reality for her. Ferrell reckons with feelings of regret for not speaking out enough from a position of power to protect his friend.
The film is an intimate documentary that has everything from the introspective and sad, to the joyful movements of a friendship. Importantly, it brings public awareness on a grand scale to a trans story, which are still largely left out of larger movie productions.
Will & Harper had its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11 and will begin streaming on Netflix on September 27.
