Gyorgy Palfi’s films ? [Taxidermia], [Hukkle] ? have never been recognized for their classical romanticism. With [I Am Not Your Friend], the director steps outside the bounds of conventional filmmaking processes and creates a film from as pure a starting point imaginable. Palfi asked nine non-professional actors to improvise their performances ? and also asked a cinematographer and screenwriter to do likewise. The result is an agonizingly realistic portrait of the lives of modern Budapest, with all its disorder and fleetingness. Shot over 20 days, the ‘story’ that unfolds is one of love, betrayal, need, and death, all in a circular narrative that collapses in on itself. Happiness and success are relative for this group, but the desire for self-determination by each person comes through loud and clear, despite ? perhaps because of ? the constantly shifting relationship dynamics. Innovative, incisive, raw, and cynical almost to the point of nihilistic, [I Am Not Your Friend] is easily the most thought-provoking look at modern life in recent years, and ultimately proof of how alike we really are.