Slideshow
ANDRÉ IS AN IDIOT
DIRECTED BY TONY BENNA
PRODUCED BY A24, SANDBOX FILMS, & SAFEHOUSE FILMS
WINNER, AUDIENCE AWARD, 2025 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
“Get a fucking colonoscopy” we're told at the end of ANDRÉ IS AN IDIOT, a wildly entertaining documentary collaboration between director Tony Benna and his friend, the title character. When André Ricciardi—a successful San Francisco advertising executive—learns that he has stage 4 colon cancer at age 52, he regrets he waited too long for a procedure that might have saved his life. But he also resolves to document his final journey in his own way—with his acerbic sense of humor and absurdist temperament (punctuated by Benna's uproarious stop-motion animation), often pointed at himself and his predicament. His therapy sessions and interviews with his wife, Janice, are particularly revealing and poignant—grounding André’s seemingly irreverent project in his efforts to protect his family during an increasingly painful time... and in his wish to never be forgotten.
Presented with support from The Endowed Fund for Emerging Filmmakers
2025 88 MIN. USA JOINT VENTURE
Trailer
Reviews
CRITIC’S PICK – Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times
“THE BEST COMEDY OF THE YEAR IS A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT DEATH... Believe it or not, this movie made me laugh more than any film in recent memory.”
– Anthony Breznican, Esquire
“Tony Benna’s irreverent, frenetic bio-doc ANDRE IS AN IDIOT is unlike any cancer doc you’ve ever seen... It might just save some lives.”
– Marya E. Gates, RogerEbert.com
“One of the most enjoyable films this reviewer has ever had the pleasure of watching – an odd verdict, you might think, for a documentary about a happily married man in his fifties diagnosed with terminal cancer. But Tony Benna’s documentary, which won the Audience Award at last year’s Sundance, is tragic, poignant and hilarious all at once.”
– Philip Kemp, Sight and Sound
“One of the most moving, most hilarious, most tragic, most wonderful works of non-fiction filmmaking in many years.”
– Jason Gorber, POV Magazine
“UNEXPECTEDLY FUNNY AND POIGNANT.”
– Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter
“FUNNY AND MOTIVATING... A much lighter experience than its logline might suggest, but its buoyancy in the face of oblivion is the source of its power.”
– David Ehrlich, IndieWire
“The funniest movie about cancer you’ll ever see.”
– Taylor Gates, Collider