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“This guy really does need to be contained, because he’s got such potential for danger and violence and mayhem.”

Macon Blair is describing the antagonist of his latest movie. He’s no stranger to menacing genre fare, as evidenced by the two other films he wrote and directed: 2017’s “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore” and 2023’s “Toxic Avenger” reimagining.

But despite pitch-black elements, “Idiots,” in theaters Friday via Independent Film Company, is a rollicking comedy. In it, two knuckleheads — the well-intentioned and religious Davis (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) and sleazy bro Mark (Dave Franco) — get a job chauffeuring troubled teens to rehab. While their first ward, Sheridan Kimberley (Mason Thames), appears to be just another troubled rich kid, he turns out to be way too dangerous for his clueless caretakers.

Having Sheridan actually be a cruel person was one of the key audience expectations the writer-director hoped to flip in the pursuit of laughs.

“It was about wanting to have the most formidable villain possible for these guys to go up against, and just play off the idea that audiences are smart and they’ve seen a lot of movies,” Blair says. “If you see a premise like this … ‘There’s two dumbbells that have a kid in the car.’ Your expectations are probably going to be that at some point along the way they will give him some advice or wisdom or a hug and he will be redeemed. He’ll get straightened out sooner or later. I really like the idea of taking the wheel in the complete opposite direction, where at a certain point you realize, ‘No, he’s actually a monster that has to be captured before more people get hurt,’ and playing off people’s expectations.”

Sheridan’s cruelty also fueled the film’s oft-shifting tone, which keeps audiences uncomfortably guessing what cringy situation comes next. Without giving away too much, the film’s grossest scatological joke happens right before Sheridan has a sinister scene with a sex worker (Kiernan Shipka).

“There’s this big, extremely over-the-top gross-out comedy punchline, and then about 10 seconds later, it goes 100 degrees in the opposite direction,” Blair says. “It’s meant to be whiplash that resets the tone of the movie. As soon as that happens, we’re back into the jokes, but in theory, that clenched feeling from that one moment remains, and that’s how you feel about Sheridan for the rest of the movie. When they’re running around the block trying to capture him, it’s not as cartoonish as it otherwise would be.”

“Idiots” takes the structure of a road trip movie, as Davis and Mark work desperately to keep Sheridan under control and bring him to rehab. But along the way they reckon with Mark’s busted car, a werewolf-obsessed rapper (Nicholas Braun, in an outrageous role), a militant kidnapper (Peter Dinklage), bad drug trips and more.

Beyond the plot, Blair and his DP Guillermo Garza hoped to give the comedy a dynamic visual style. Despite the tight indie schedule, Blair says all of this pressure helped make the movie stronger due to creative problem solving.

“Because the schedule was so short, there were a lot of times where we had a very detailed shot listed/storyboarded plan going in. But we would get in the day, and there wasn’t going to be enough time to get all of it,” Blair says. “So a lot of times on the fly, Guillermo and I would redistill the scene and say, ‘OK, if we thought we were going to do this moment in three shots, what’s the version of it where it’s one shot and we just do it with a move?’ It was one of those things where the limitations of time or light or whatever forced us to … I don’t mean ‘not be precious about it.’ It’s kind of the opposite of that. To really drill down on: ‘gun to my head, what can we afford to lose?’ So the scenes become as specific as possible, because it’s really just the bare bones of what you very essentially need. I’m not saying, ‘I would go into another movie asking for fewer days.’ I wouldn’t. But I loved how that happened, because if we had the luxury of ‘you can shoot as much as you want,’ I don’t think we would have come up with the same solutions, and it would have felt different. It would have felt a little less sharp.”

The one comedic element Blair didn’t want to stick his neck out for? The much-discussed original title. The film premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival as “The Shitheads,” but was renamed “Idiots” once Independent Film Company acquired and dated the film. It wasn’t a war Blair felt like waging.

“That was part of the conversation we had internally about changing the title: It wasn’t so much a full ‘You’re not allowed to do this.’ It was just a list of limitations,” he says. “It was a lot of things that had to do with where posters could be displayed in public, and how you could obscure the names. It started to feel like it was going to be an uphill battle promotion-wise with this movie. Given that it’s a smaller movie and it’s coming out in the summertime, and there are a ton of movies to compete with, we didn’t want to hamstring ourselves with, yes, it’s a funny title, but to cross your arms and say, ‘By God, I’ll have fewer people see the movie to hold on to this title.’ It seemed like cutting off your nose to spite your face. So we said, ‘Let’s just pivot to something that’s not going to give us that hassle.’”

Watch the trailer for “Idiots” below.

Tom Hardy is best known as a movie star who plays rough-and-tumble characters, and he’s brought that energy to the mic on his latest project. The actor who records music under the alias Frankie Pulitzer just dropped a collaborative album called “Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer” with underground rap supergroup Czarface, which consists of duo 7L & Esoteric and Wu-Tang Clan’s Inspectah Deck.

For fans of Hardy’s Hollywood work, he peppers in plenty of film and comic book references into his lyrics. The actor is no stranger to comic lore, as he played the villainous Bane in 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” as well as portrayed Spider-Man antihero Venom in three standalone movies and a cameo appearance in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

In the song “Raw Forever,” Hardy loads his verse with references to Martin Scorsese’s 1999 film “Bringing Out the Dead,” Willem Dafoe’s portrayal of baddie Green Goblin from 2002’s “Spider-Man,” Marvel evildoer Doctor Doom, DC Comics hero Sergeant Rock and Sidney Lumet’s classic 1975 film “Dog Day Afternoon.”

I’m Bringing Out the Dead like a paramedic out the Cage, directed by Marty
Frank Pierce the gang’s here welcome to the party
I be somewhat of a scientist like Willem Dafoe
If you know then you know
Goblin up crumbs
Hit ’em with the fly kill ’em with the low
Profile, no smile, exile the old style
So vile, exhale the smoke cloud, blow trial
Dog Day Afternoon
When I talk Sgt. Rock on the block with the Glock aftershock from the boom
Rip you out your costume
Stuff you in the smallest locker, lock you in the locker room
Doctor Doom how I’m the Victor the Scripture

In the song “Mad Technology,” Hardy namechecks two Stephen King books-turned-movies (“Cujo” and “Misery”), and says something wild about the star of the latter, Kathy Bates. Elsewhere in his verse, he shouts out Marvel hero Thor, and later references Shameik Moore, who voices Miles Morales in the “Spider-Verse” films and starred in the drama “Dope.”

You shit-for-brain no-name lame, that bites like Cujo
I’d rather masturbate to Kathy Bates than hear you flow
And you know that Misery, it loves company

…

Beatin’ P is not an easy chore like defeating Thor

…

Sprinkle Dope Across the Verse, shout to Shameik Moore

At the end of “Grim-Visaged War,” Hardy recites Shakespeare‘s famous “Richard III” monologue in a voice very reminiscent of his Bane performance.

Lastly, there’s a “Titanic” reference on “Gnawing at My Rhyme Like a Poisonous Rat.”

Yo, you act amused like DiCaprio scratching his pencils
To capture your figure you love the attention that’s all clear

Although Hardy has not spoken publicly about his work as Frankie Pulitzer, he is no stranger to rapping, having previously appeared on other Czarface albums as well as dropping a few loose collaborative singles.

Hardy also recorded an album at the turn of the millennium called “Falling on Your Arse in 1999″ under the moniker Tommy No 1, along with his producer friend Edward Tracy, aka Eddie Too Tall. The record was never properly released, but it appeared online in 2018.

Owen Thiele has a lot more riding on “Adults” this time around.

The FX comedy returned for its second season Aug. 27 with an audience now invested in its messy, co-dependent group of twentysomethings. Thiele, who plays Anton, says the cast spent much of the wait for renewal worried the show might not come back at all. “But I feel like now we have a little, tiny, beautiful cult following that hopefully will stick by us and get us that third season..”

That was the mood when Thiele sat down with Variety at an Instagram-hosted dinner at Palma in New York celebrating the new season. It can be hard to wrangle even the closest friends to a weeknight event, especially only one day after a booze-heavy premiere the previous night. But Thiele is unquestionably popular. Bowen Yang, Molly Gordon and Mary Beth Barone were just a few of his bold-faced friends who made their way to the West Village for a multi-course Italian meal and many, many dirty martinis.

Instagram also used the dinner to spotlight Instants, its newer feature for sending spontaneous photos through DMs, while Thiele is set to share behind-the-scenes content from the event on the platform’s @notfit4main account.

One reason for Thiele’s bursting-at-the-seams friend group is his growing list of Imdb credits. The 29 year-old also appears in Prime Video’s “Overcompensating,” where his character George represents a very different kind of queer friendship than Anton does, and he’s headed to the big screen in “Peaked,” Molly Gordon’s upcoming comedy, alongside Connor Storrie and Dua Lipa.

He’s also writing “Off Color,” a semi-autobiographical Amazon comedy inspired by his experience growing up Black and gay in a white Jewish family. The project pulls from his fascinating family history: Thiele is the son of music producer Bob Thiele Jr. and the grandson of iconic record producer Bob Thiele (“What a Wonderful World,” which Thiele co-wrote for Louis Armstrong, might ring a bell.) Susie Essman, known for her iconic role in “Curb Your Enthiusiasm,” is set to play Owen’s mother.

Below, Thiele talks to Variety about portraying queer friendship on screen, being a “nepo grandchild” and working with Connor Storrie and Dua Lipa:

What can we expect from Season 2 of “Adults” — and Anton and Paul?

Well, a lot happened. A lot happened. So I’m invested too. When I got those scripts, I was immediately reading. I was hoping that the kiss was addressed and it is but it’s addressed in a way that I think people wouldn’t expect.

Like avoidant-attachment vibes?

Sort of, sort of. It’s sort of like me in a relationship.

I feel like you pull from your own life a lot for the character.

Yes, I do, I do, I do. A lot of people would say I can’t act because of that. But the writers did such a brilliant job crafting this season because it doesn’t feel at all expected, and there are so many twists and turns that when I was filming it, I was like, “What? This is happening?” I couldn’t believe it.

You’re in “Overcompensating”, too: the two shows reflect very different types of queer friendships. What do you think might have been missing in representations of queer friendship before, and what do those two separate arcs bring to it?

I think “Overcompensating” does such a brilliant job of showing someone who isn’t comfortable with themselves finding solace and space in people who are comfortable with themselves. And I think what “Adults” does is show this immediate comfortability and coziness. Sexuality isn’t even uttered.

But I think they’re two very important stories to tell. One is what I felt in high school. I came out in high school, and I was very much looking for somebody who I could relate to in that way, which is Benny [Benito Skinner] to George [Thiele]. And I feel like in “Adults,” I’m kind of where I am now, where it’s just unspoken and unsaid and it doesn’t really matter.

I have to ask about “Off Color.” I imagine the “nepo baby” conversation is going to come up. How are you feeling about putting something this personal out there?

One hundred percent. Everyone thinks I’m a nepo baby. I don’t think my dad was successful enough for me to be a nepo baby.

But your grandpa was successful. I was on his Wikipedia today!

No, my grandpa — I am. No, no, he was successful. I am a nepo grandchild, for sure.

I’m scared, and I’m also ready. I’m like, you know what? I want to put myself out there in every way possible and see what happens. Some things will not be received well, and I’m ready for that. And hopefully other things will be.

What have the conversations with your family been like while writing?

It’s hilarious. It feels like therapy. It’s family therapy. My mom will be like, “I never said that.” And I’m like, “You definitely said that.” We’re all working through things, and I’m working through things as I write this show.

I’m not running things by them. I’m more like sending them scripts, and my mom being like, “Why’d you make me a bitch?”

Susan Essman is playing her. How did she get involved?

I met with her. I sat with her and explained my life story to her, and she, for some reason, wanted to be involved, which is so crazy to me still. She’s Jewish, my parents are Jewish. But more than that, she’s an idol. She’s one of my comedy idols. She’s a comedy legend. So I feel very lucky.

I can only think of her as her character in “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” What kind of energy does she bring playing your mom?

My mom is a helicopter mom, but Owen in the show is front seat in the helicopter. He is obsessed with her being that way. So it’s the back-and-forth. It’s the enabling. It’s the codependency. She’s not really a yeller. She’s definitely a crier. She cries at everything. It’s a lack of boundaries. I haven’t seen Susie play this, which I think will be fun.

Going back to “Peaked,” what was it like working with Connor Storrie?

Connor is a dream. He is not only a very attractive man, he is so beyond talented. I interviewed him for my podcast, and afterward I was like, “Oh God, you are a dream.” And then I got to work with him after that.

He was just down to play. Everyone on “Peaked” was just down to fucking clown. We were all down to do whatever Molly [Gordon] wanted us to do. Molly has such a great, beautiful, clear vision.

What was it like being directed by Molly, who you’re so close to?

She’s my best friend. It felt like we were kids again. I’ve known her since I was two. I’ve been in plays with her. She has directed me before. When I auditioned for “SNL,” she was very involved and was kind of directing my [audition] sketches for “SNL.” She’s been directing me for years, so this just felt like a natural progression.

What’s your overall vibe with posting on social media?

Oh my God, I love Instagram. I posted on Instagram twice today. In-feed. I think people are sick of me. I think people are unfollowing. I’m also like, who the fuck cares? Post when you have a hot photo. You have a hot photo, you want people to see it — post that shit. Who cares? Let’s not be precious with our dumps. Let’s just post when we like something.

I want to go back to 2016 Instagram, where you’re posting a photo of something you like.