Spring Break Vibes Turned Feral

MOVIE REVIEW
Find Your Friends
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Genre: Horror, Thriller
Year Released: 2025, 2026
Runtime: 1h 29m
Director(s): Izabel Pakzad
Writer(s): Izabel Pakzad
Cast: Helena Howard, Bella Thorne, Chloe Cherry, Sophia Ali, Zión Moreno
Where to Watch: streaming on Shudder, starting June 12, 2026

RAVING REVIEW: Every friend group worth having has that person who insists the night isn't over yet. The bar is closing, everyone's exhausted, half the group wants to leave, and somehow they still manage to convince everybody that the next stop is where the real fun starts. FIND YOUR FRIENDS feels like an entire movie built around that moment. It captures the intoxicating rush of chasing one more adventure long after common sense has packed up and gone home, then follows that vibe into increasingly dangerous territory until the line between a party and a nightmare completely disappears.

Izabel Pakzad's debut doesn't introduce audiences to a collection of victims. It introduces them to a friend group. That's an important distinction because the film lives or dies on whether viewers buy into the chemistry, dysfunction, loyalty, and resentment that bounce around among these women. Amber, Lavinia, Lola, Maddy, and Zosia don't always seem to like each other (in fact, sometimes they almost hate each other), but they absolutely feel like they've known each other for years. They have their own shorthand, their own arguments, their own unspoken rules, and the kind of baggage that only accumulates after spending too much time in each other's company.

The movie understands that friendships aren't built entirely on support and affection. They're also built on irritation, jealousy, competition, forgiveness, and the occasional desire to strangle somebody you genuinely care about. That complexity gives FIND YOUR FRIENDS an authenticity that many survival thrillers like this never achieve. When the situation begins to deteriorate, the fractures already exist. The danger simply forces them into the open.

What struck me most was how effectively the film captures the energy of that period in life when you believe nothing bad can happen to you. The women at the center of the story move through the world with a confidence that borders on invincibility. They drink too much, take too many drugs, trust too quickly, ignore warning signs, and repeatedly convince themselves that whatever feels uncomfortable probably isn't worth worrying about. Pakzad never presents this behavior as admirable, but she doesn't judge it either. The film understands that many people survive their twenties through some combination of luck, stubbornness, and the mistaken belief that bad outcomes happen to other people. That illusion hangs over life in general.

Joshua Tree becomes more than a backdrop as the story unfolds. The desert starts as a playground, then slowly transforms into something far darker and more threatening. During the day, the landscape feels beautiful but exposed. At night, it becomes isolating in an unsettling way. The vast open spaces offer surprisingly little comfort once the characters realize they may not be as safe as they assumed. Pakzad and cinematographer Tim Curtin consistently use that environment to amplify the growing unease without relying on conventional horror tropes.

Rather than rushing toward violence, FIND YOUR FRIENDS spends much of its runtime allowing discomfort to accumulate. Strange interactions become more frequent. Minor conflicts become meaningful. Casual encounters become increasingly difficult to dismiss. The audience starts to notice the same warning signs as Amber does, even as other characters continue to treat the weekend as another opportunity to blur their own realities.

Helena Howard gives the strongest performance in the film because she understands that Amber's journey isn't about becoming a hero. It's about becoming aware. While everyone around her remains focused on the next distraction, the next drink, the next hookup, or the next party, Amber gradually starts recognizing that something has shifted. Howard never overplays that realization. She allows it to emerge naturally through body language, reactions, and small moments of hesitation that become increasingly important as the film progresses.

The supporting cast contributes significantly to the film's success and the vibes throughout. Bella Thorne embraces Lavinia's larger-than-life personality, creating a character who can be entertaining, frustrating, and exhausting within the span of a single conversation. Chloe Cherry brings a chaotic unpredictability that keeps scenes feeling alive. At the same time, Sophia Ali and Zión Moreno help ground the group dynamic enough that the friendships remain believable even during the film's more heightened moments.

One aspect that won't work for everyone is the film's aggressive commitment to overstimulation. The soundtrack doesn't simply accompany scenes. It dominates them. Music pounds through conversations, parties, and confrontations with an intensity that can feel overwhelming. Some viewers will likely find portions of the experience exhausting. I suspect that's exactly what Pakzad intends. FIND YOUR FRIENDS wants audiences trapped inside the same environment as its characters. The constant noise, movement, intoxication, and volatility become part of the storytelling rather than simple background decoration. With that said, this may be one of the most impactful soundtracks that I’ve heard in years!

FIND YOUR FRIENDS commits completely to the escalation. The film becomes faster and far more unpredictable than its opening suggests. Pakzad understands that the most effective chaos isn't random. It's the result of multiple bad choices, ignored instincts, damaged relationships, and dangerous people colliding at exactly the wrong moment.

What separates FIND YOUR FRIENDS from many similar genre films is that it never feels interested in delivering that type of empowerment fantasy. The women at its center remain flawed throughout. They make mistakes. They hurt each other. They fail each other. They survive situations that expose the best and worst parts of their personalities. The film doesn't ask audiences to admire them. It simply asks them to stay in the car while everything goes off the rails.

FIND YOUR FRIENDS feels less like a traditional horror film and more like the cinematic embodiment of the story that gets told years later. The details seem unreliable. The decisions sound ridiculous in hindsight. Everyone involved swears they should've left earlier. Yet somehow, despite every warning sign screaming otherwise, they stayed. Pakzad turns that universal experience into a tense, chaotic, and frequently uncomfortable thriller that thrives on the feeling that disaster was always waiting just around the corner.

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[photo courtesy of SHUDDER, WELCOME TO ITALY, WWPS, WALTERS MEDIA GROUP, ANGRY CLOUD, 828 PRODUCTIONS]

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