Find Your Friends: A Brutal Exploration of Female Friendship and Toxic Masculinity
Find Your Friends is a provocative survival horror film that explores the clash between female hedonism and toxic masculinity. Directed and written by Izabel Pakzad in her debut, the movie is a mash-up of indie sensibilities reminiscent of Spring Breakers and How to Have Sex, combined with elements of classic horror like Deliverance and Revenge. While it may not quite reach the heights of these influences, the film powerfully tackles complex themes such as peer pressure, personal responsibility, and the chaos of messy female friendships.
What is Find Your Friends About?
The story follows a group of female friends enjoying a vacation in Italy, determined to indulge in fun — and sometimes questionable — activities. The film opens at a lively yacht party filled with dancing, flirting, drinking, and drug use, creating a scene similar to Girls Gone Wild.
Among the friends is Amber, played convincingly by Helena Howard. Unlike her more carefree friends, Amber’s mood is subdued due to her recent breakup and the arrival of her ex with his new partner. She tries to drown her sorrows, but her night takes a dark turn when she’s assaulted below deck by a persistent man who refuses to take no for an answer. This traumatic event profoundly affects Amber, causing her to blame her friends for leaving her vulnerable and to suffer from PTSD.
Despite Amber’s distress, the friendship group presses on with their holiday, heading to an EDM festival in the desert. The night is marred by more drinking, drug use, and encounters with creepy strangers. When Amber senses stalking and danger, she isolates herself, and her situation rapidly deteriorates into a tense survival scenario that forms the core of the film’s horror element.
Toxic Men and Toxic Friendships
While the external threats are frightening—men attempting to exploit and control—the real horror lies in the choices and reactions of the characters themselves. Pazkadz’s script isn’t solely concerned with monstrous depictions of men; instead, it emphasizes how the protagonists’ decisions draw them into danger, and how their responses reveal deeper societal issues.
When Amber finally confronts her trauma, the lack of support from her friends is startling and uncomfortable. Their indifference highlights a broader commentary on how young women—loud, vulgar, and unruly—are often dismissed by society and surrounded by frat culture that encourages their partying and vulnerability. The film suggests that these girls are products of their environment, shaped by societal expectations and toxic masculinity.
Is Find Your Friends Good?
From the opening scene, Find Your Friends assaults the senses with handheld camerawork that immerses viewers in the girls’ wild lifestyle. The early montage sequences of dancing and flirtation, though repetitive, serve to illustrate the societal pressures placed on these women, contrasting their internal desires with external expectations.
The film ultimately offers an unflinching examination of female group dynamics and gender relations. While it uses survival horror tropes to heighten tension, its strongest elements lie in its social commentary.
Rating: 3/5
Whenever it moves beyond the horror conventions, Find Your Friends is a compelling directorial debut from Izabel Pakzad. It delves into how society treats young women and the complicated, often damaging relationships they have with each other.
Note: The film was reviewed at Fantastic Fest; its release date is yet to be announced. For fans of horror, check out our list of the best horror movies of all time.