“Loves Company” (2026) is part spoof of “Misery” (1990), part satire of the entertainment business, and a character portrait of two odd people trying to figure out how to navigate the world alone. Antoinette “Ant” Funk (Rachel Dratch) is the number one fan of Blake De Troy (Jack Plotnick). When she rescues him after his car crashes in a nearby swamp, she does not let anyone know and plans to keep him to herself. Meanwhile Blake is just trying to figure out how to get famous again and increasingly becomes relieved that Ant is taking care of him. Can they help each other get what they want? While the situations and the characters are funny, writer and director Jason Laurits’ feature debut is more of a tragedy than a comedy though the laughs increase as the story approaches the denouement.
While Dratch is the bigger name, Ant is not the protagonist of “Loves Company,” but Blake. Blake used to appear on a (fictional) game show called “Hollywood Surprise” and hammed it up as a flamboyant gay man wearing “lady slippers.” With the show long since cancelled, he goes to conventions hawking autographed headshots and his autobiography, “Open That Box,” which was the show’s slogan. Unwilling to accept that his time is up, especially with an upcoming revival of the old show, he is determined to make it back into the spotlight. Unwilling to accept that a younger version of himself, Tyler Brandon-Hughes (Lady Camden), a social media makeup tutorial artist, has replaced him, Blake is determined to convince Tom (Tristen J. Winger) to cast him in a recurring slot. Even though the world of Blake’s version of fame is dismal and ridiculous, Blake’s self-awareness and desperation keep it grounded. He does not want a lot and does not get that. His husband, Jimmy (Bryan Batt), functions as the bridge between normalcy and absurdity in his radical acceptance of his husband’s desires, and their dynamic is the strongest element in the first act. Tom’s role throughout the movie delivers the satire of the cynical exploitation of people’s authentic selves twisted into a marketable commodity. Blake starts dipping his toe in social media discovering that it is not easy to go viral.
Cue Ant who has a parasocial relationship with Blake since he was her main escape from the bleakness of daily life. She believes that meeting Blake will inject joy into her life, but she only succeeds in frightening him as she sings karaoke to him then tries to get him to join in after he recovers consciousness after a car accident. The tension of “Loves Company” starts with Ant’s inability to see Blake for who he is, which includes the mirror image of homophobia, thinking that he will be her gay best friend and that everything he does will be delightful, not a human being with flaws. At some point, the tension shifts to how long before she realizes how much he disrupts her life and function as a Rorschach test of her true character.
Sheriff Shoney (Sarah Baker) is on Ant’s case and will do anything to antagonize her, which includes flirting with Ant’s ex, Dan (Dustin Ingram), who works at the local supermarket. Shoney is severely underwritten, and it feels like her story got left on the cutting room floor. The origin of their conflict remains a mystery. The contrast of Ant’s response to Shoney’s injuries compared to Blake’s permits Blake to sardonically comment on the quality gap, which will tickle your funny bone.
“Loves Company” is not exactly a laugh riot because the two leads are incredibly sad, messed up people. Dratch and Plotnick make it easy to get invested in their characters without pulling any punches and keeping them on the road of bad ideas. It turns out that Blake has a substance use problem (alcohol and prescription drugs), which helps him perform. At some point, the situation morphs into a struggle for their souls and what they are willing to do to get what they want. It is also precisely when the humor starts to kick in. Both actors embrace their characters’ patheticness without laughing at them or turning their nose down at the targeted demographic. It does not feel mean spirited.
In the biggest twist yet, Ingram winds up being the most reliable source of laughs because he is the straight man in “Loves Company” reacting to the wackiness while injecting his earnest brand of kookiness. His first interaction with Blake at the store is hilarious, but he also becomes a running joke whether he is playing his autotuned music or as the silent punchline when Ant reassures Blake that everything is fine when things are getting out of hand.
Blake’s chaos brings Ant closer to the people in her community and ends her isolation, but the tone shifts throughout “Loves Company” make it challenging to sustain those laughs. On one hand, being unpredictable and descending into madness has its appeals, but the stakes are too serious to remain guilt free. The oneiric quality of Blake’s conclusion is simultaneously sweet and a punk out. It feels as if Laurits did not know how to wrap everything up and did not want irreversible consequences for the characters that he created and loved.
Production designer Sara Nyquist deserves an award for creating a link between Ant and Blake’s homes with a turquoise wall color scheme. Because Ant’s home is so tenebrous, it is easy to miss until the proverbial crap hits the fan, and they are seated at the kitchen table. “Loves Company” and “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” (2026) are deft at world building with the props. The tube television, VHS tapes and various memorabilia reveal the dedication of the filmmakers to these characters’ interior lives. Will viewers even understand what they are seeing since physical media is going extinct?
Shot in New Orleans and set in Florida, “Loves Company” makes some halfhearted gator jokes with a possible reference to “Pearl” (2022) and/or “X” (2022). If you want more gator action, check out “Gator Face” (2026) and do not expect to find any here. If you are expecting any Florida Man jokes, keep it pushing. There are a lot of swamp references without the actual swamp, which felt like a broken promise. Also, if you are unfamiliar with Florida geography, you will initially be thrown off and think that it is set in California because Hollywood is referenced before veering into Palm Springs.
“Loves Company” is not exactly a comedy and is more of a tragedy with quotidian characters possessing inherently humorous elements without making fun of them. The stakes are serious so if you really need a pick me up, this movie will not be for you, but if you are looking for a movie with a mostly ruthless edge, then check it out.
