Based on the Sigrid Nunez novel, The Friend follows Iris ( Naomi Watts ), a writer and teacher, who is grieving the loss of her friend and mentor Walter ( Bill Murray) when she learns that he has left her his dog, a Great Dane named Apollo.

The feature debuted at Telluride where it was acquired by Bleecker Street, and later screened at TIFF and NYFF. Watts stars as Iris, a woman who finds her comfortable New York life upended when her friend and mentor Walter (Murray) bequeaths her his Great Dane, Apollo.