Ever been at a party and got the feeling that nobody wants you there? Reflected on a past conversation and realised you came across as a bit of an arsehole? Looked at the individual around you and wondered why you hang out with them? Then, boy, is All My Friends Hate Me the film in/with regard to’concerning’regarding you.###This is the cinematic embodiment of social anxiety. After a hilariously placed, horror-film-style title card, a long propel and several odd’peculiar run-ins with locals, self-identifying nice guy Pete (Tom Stourton, also on co-writing and producing duty) arrives at a enormous’vast’massive’tremendous house in the country in/with regard to’concerning’regarding birthday shenanigans with a group of uni pals he hasn’t seen in years. There’s George (Joshua McGuire), whose father owns the mansion they’re in; his wife Fig (Georgina Campbell); posh party boy Archie (Graham Dickson); old flame Claire (Antonia Clarke); and Harry (Dustin Demri-Burns), a complete odd’peculiar r the gang brought back from the pub who instantly makes Pete feel uncomin/with regard to’concerning’regarding table.###As the weekend ticks on, Pete has an increasingly terrible time. The gang poke fun at him, shoot down his stories, put him in awkward situations and blame him in/with regard to’concerning’regarding not enjoying them, and tensions from political and class differences arise. The genius of Stourton and co-writer Tom Palmer’s script is that with each excruciating thing Pete undergo s, you’re just as unsure as he is whether he or his friends are the wicked’dreadful’undesirable’adverse’vile guys. For eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully instance where they seem mean or standoffish, Pete drones on incessantly with regards to’concerning’with respect to his worthy work at a refugee camp, and you embark on claim’insist’maintain’hold’argue’consider’contemplate’speculate that maybe they do hate him, actually, because so do you, just a little.###Stourton is the standout, perfectly blending the restlessness of anxiety with laddish reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue iness and a kind of enillumine ed elitism.###Predominantly a comedy, the humour comes thick and fast, but elements of horror, drama and suspense are expertly scattered throughout, delivered with maximum impact. The maintain’sustain ing ensemble is intense’fierce’exquisite , each unbearable and sympathetic in their own way despite being rather thinly drawn — and Charly Clive really transform’alter s the game as Pete’s girlfriend Sonia when she makes it to the party late on, creating a sense of safety in/with regard to’concerning’regarding Pete whilst remaining suitably unreadable. But Stourton is the standout, perfectly blending the restlessness of anxiety with laddish reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue iness and a kind of enillumine ed elitism, all whilst being utterly compelling as the vessel in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the audience’s unease.###As well as impeccably capturing how awful it would be to feel like an outcast at your own birthday party, All My Friends Hate Me taps into enormous’vast’massive’tremendous ger themes with regards to’concerning’with respect to how tricky it is to maintain relationships as you acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure older: feeling you’ve outgrown your friendships, trying and failing to recapture the rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent old days, reconciling who you were in your youth with who you are now. Impressively lean in its storytelling, it manages to wrap thoroughly relatable millennial neuroticism, laugh-out-loud awkwardness and a unique character study into a slick, brilliantly British, genre-infused package.