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Trailer: The Friendship Game

Hollywood studios seem unwilling to compete with the nationwide release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, so your only other movie opening in Los Angeles today is The Friendship Game, playing exclusively at the Laemmle Glendale. Typically, this is where low-budget genre films show up on their way to or simultaneous with their release on home video, and sure enough, The Friendship Game is currently available to buy or rent on YouTube video. The trailer makes the film look like the cinematic equivalent of young adult horror: a group of small-town teenagers purchase what resembles a spherical version of The Lament Configuration, which tests the strength of their friendship, with horrifying results.

Scooter Corkle directed from a script by Damien Ober. The cast includes Peyton List, Brendan Meyer, and Miriam Smith. Distributor RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) has some entertaining titles in its voluminous back catalog, including Castle Freak and Werewolves Within, so this might be worth a look.

Steve Biodrowski, Administrator

A graduate of USC film school, Steve Biodrowski has worked as a film critic, journalist, and editor at Movieline, Premiere, Le Cinephage, The Dark Side., Cinefantastique magazine, Fandom.com, and Cinescape Online. He is currently Managing Editor of Cinefantastique Online and owner-operator of Hollywood Gothique.