Film

Good Boys

Name: Good Boys
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2019
Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, Brady Noon, Molly Gordon, Midori Francis

Comedy

Three sixth-graders lose their drone and lie to their parents, spending a chaotic day navigating a world they don't quite understand yet. It's a genuinely funny, surprisingly affectionate comedy that treats kids as real people—curious, insecure, loyal, and badly in need of information. Best watched with low expectations that it immediately exceeds.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you relish R-rated mayhem seen through eyes that barely understand what they're saying, the gap between innocence and filthy vocabulary doing most of the work.

Skip it if you are allergic to profanity-heavy humour, since the jokes lean hard on swearing and gross-out set pieces that can grow tiresome long before the ninety minutes end.

What it asks of you: A brisk ninety minutes with a restless, episodic shape; it moves fast and rarely lets a single gag sit, so you need to keep up rather than settle in.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Superbad2007

Two best friends on the cusp of high school stumble through a night of misadventure chasing girls and trying to fit in. Sharply written, endlessly quotable, and somehow both hilarious and genuinely tender about friendship.

But The humor depends partly on sexual references and teen anxiety that some will find dated or tiresome; it's also very clearly a comedy for adults about adolescence, not adolescents.

Eighth Grade2018

A gorgeous, mortifying, and quietly hilarious portrait of a thirteen-year-old navigating social media, school, and her own mind. Painfully observant about what it actually feels like to be invisible and judged simultaneously.

But It's not a laugh-out-loud comedy. The humor is understated and the emotional cringe is genuine; if you need big jokes landing fast, this will feel slow.

The Lego Movie2014

A kids' movie that works equally hard for adults, bursting with visual gags, genuine warmth, and the kind of structural cleverness that rewards rewatches. Joyfully absurd and surprisingly moving.

But It's deliberately silly and loud; the rapid-fire jokes mean some will miss landing for you, and the sentimentality sneaks up whether you want it or not.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Good Boys

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Moonrise Kingdom2012

A film about the specificity of childhood friendships and the real stakes of juvenile adventure—the same emotional core as Good Boys, just in a different register entirely (poetic rather than scrappy).

Two twelve-year-olds fall in love and run away together on an island. Wes Anderson's most accessible film—visually gorgeous, genuinely touching, and unexpectedly funny about what it means to find your person at that age.

But If you find Wes Anderson's aesthetic precious or over-designed, this won't change your mind; it's all symmetry and whimsy, which reads as cold to some viewers.

Adventureland2009

A summer before college comedy that gets the specific ache of that moment—wanting to be grown up while still being utterly lost. Warm, funny, genuinely melancholy, and full of great characters.

But It's deliberately nostalgic in a way that only works if you're in the right mood for its particular brand of wistfulness.

The Goonies1985

Kids on an adventure to save their homes, made with real affection and genuine peril. It's a film that understands what makes friendship matter and why loyalty is its own reward.

But The dialogue is 1985 and it shows; some jokes and language aged poorly, and the pacing assumes you're patient with setup.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople2016

A misfit kid and a gruff old man survive in the New Zealand bush. It's funny and touching in equal measure, with a real friendship at its heart and genuine stakes.

But The New Zealand setting and humor are very particular; if the tone doesn't click instantly, the film won't work for you.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off1986

A day in the life of a resourceful kid and his friends gaming the system. Endlessly quotable, genuinely clever about how to bend the world to your will, and honestly moving about friendship.

But It's beloved to the point of myth, which means it might feel like you've seen it already even on a first watch. Also, Ferris is kind of insufferable if you think about him too hard.

Blockers2018

Parents try to stop their daughters from losing virginity on prom night; somehow the film is genuinely warm about both teens and adults, funny without being mean, and surprisingly thoughtful.

But It's built on sex-comedy premises that don't land consistently; the humor is uneven and some jokes fall flat enough to derail scenes.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid2010

A middle schooler's attempt to reinvent himself rings genuinely true about the social calculus of that age. It's got real affection for its characters' small dramas.

But The animation is flat and occasionally ugly; the humor is gentle to the point of being barely there, and it won't satisfy anyone wanting actual laughs.

mid90s2018

Like Good Boys, it's built around the specific gravity of friendships at that age—the intensity, the loyalty, the way your friends become your whole world—but where Good Boys is comedy-first, this one lets the poignancy sit quietly alongside it.

Jonah Hill's debut features kids and teenagers bonding over skateboarding in 1990s LA. Shot on grainy DV, it's tender and unsentimental about male friendship, with genuine warmth underneath the cool detachment.

But The script is deliberately loose and plotless; some characters lack depth, and the casual misogyny and homophobia, while reflecting the era, won't feel progressive. Also genuinely gritty in moments that undercut the comedy.