New British Film 'The State of Us' Explores Male Friendship Against Modern Toxicity

Jake Harvey and Ollie Gardner's indie drama The State of Us is taking a hard look at something that doesn't get enough serious attention in cinema: the fragility and realness of male friendships in 2024.

The film follows Samuel Bottomley and Callum Scott Howells through what sounds like a heavy narrative—one set partly in a hospice—but frames it as a final, meaningful journey. That's the kind of specificity that separates genuine character work from easy sentiment. Against a cultural backdrop where toxic masculinity has its loudest megaphone yet, Harvey and Gardner are asking what actual connection between men looks like when the noise gets turned up.

There's real urgency to stories like this right now. Too much discourse around male identity is either sanctimonious or poisoned. A film willing to sit in the complicated middle—examining bonds between men without agenda or preaching—feels necessary. The Edinburgh setting and indie scale suggest these filmmakers aren't looking for blockbuster answers, just honest ones.

This is the kind of British filmmaking that matters: small-scale, character-driven, asking questions most mainstream cinema won't touch.

Read the full story at The Hollywood Reporter → https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/the-state-of-us-samuel-bottomley-callum-scott-howells-clip-1236670165/