In addition to his acclaimed thriller work, filmmaker Macon Blair also has a penchant for dark comedies, having written and directed the Toxic Avenger reboot and the Josh Brolin/Peter Dinklage comedy Brothers. His latest film, The S***heads, is cut from that more comedic cloth and sees Blair deliver his funniest work yet.
What is The S***heads about?
The S***heads follows two guys who have both reached rock bottom as they accept a job to transport a trust fund kid to rehab, only for their seemingly simple mission to be derailed when they get into (hilarious) trouble. Giving the vibe of a classic buddy comedy with a decidedly Macon Blair mean streak, this movie is easily going to be one of the funniest of the year.
The S***heads Review
The best thing about The S***heads is that its laughs come early, hard, and nonstop. In his film’s 98-minute runtime, Blair continues to throw the characters into wacky, often hilarious situations that escalate in strangeness and intensity as they go along. Some of these moments don’t make a whole lot of logical sense, but they are consistently entertaining.
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One of the most surprising things about Blair’s script is the variety in comedic styles he is able to pull off. The movie opens with an in-joke that’s slightly esoteric and aimed at cinephiles more than anything else, but later in the movie, there is a hall-of-fame-level scatological gag that had the audience laughing for two minutes straight. And while this “throw everything at the wall” approach might sound concerning on paper, the ratio of hits is so high that it works incredibly well.
The S***heads also works because Blair does a great job of making the audience genuinely care about these characters. On paper, this pairing of slacker buddies probably shouldn’t be as compelling as it is, as they are — as the title implies — not exactly good people. However, there is an inexplicable underdog quality to them that makes it easy to root for them against the insane circumstances in which they find themselves.
O’Shea Jackson Jr., Dave Franco and Mason Thames appear in The Shitheads by Macon Blair, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Much of this success is thanks to phenomenal chemistry between O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Dave Franco, who make an incredibly funny and charming pairing. Franco is clearly the funnier half of the duo, but so much of the film is reliant on their rapport that it doesn’t work without both of them fully committing and bouncing off of one another, which they do perfectly.
The third lead is Mason Thames (from the live-action How to Train Your Dragon), who delivers a stunningly good performance as the delinquent juvenile the leads are tasked with transporting. Without revealing too much about the twists and turns the movie takes, it is honestly surprising how much range Thames brings to the role.
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However, don’t sleep on the supporting cast, many of whom are absolutely hilarious as the wacky characters the trio encounters on their journey. Kiernan Shipka is very funny as a Ukrainian escort, continuing her path of taking on more mature roles to prove she is no longer a child. Later, Blair reunites with Toxic Avenger star Peter Dinklage, who is fun alongside Nicholas Braun, with Braun making some of the strangest choices that any actor has made in a comedic film as of late. But every single one of those weird decisions pays off with a laugh.
Is The S***heads worth watching?
The S***heads has all the charm of a broad studio comedy, but has the unabashed, balls-to-the-wall edginess of an indie. Macon Blair has cracked the code to deliver the type of laughs that it feels like Hollywood is almost afraid to give audiences anymore, resulting in some of the biggest laughs you’ll get all year.
The S***heads is screening at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, which runs January 22-February 1 in Park City, UT, and online from January 29-February 1.
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