Idiots 2026

Idiots is already released, arriving in U.S. theaters on August 28, 2026 after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year under its original title, The Shitheads. Directed by Macon Blair, this R-rated comedy is built around two hopeless drivers, a wealthy teenager headed to rehab and a road trip that goes spectacularly wrong.

The movie knows exactly what kind of comedy it wants to be. It is crude, messy, deliberately irresponsible and heavily dependent on the chemistry between Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr. There is a definite early-2000s buddy-comedy flavor here, with the film recalling the reckless energy of movies such as Pineapple Express while adding a darker crime angle.

That approach will not work for everyone. The humor frequently pushes into vulgar territory, and the story occasionally feels less controlled than the performances. Still, Blair understands that the central trio needs to be funny together, not merely surrounded by funny situations. That chemistry is what keeps Idiots moving when the screenplay starts running out of surprises.

Storyline

Mark and Davis have both hit difficult points in their lives when they accept a questionable job transporting Sheridan, a wealthy and troubled teenager, to a rehabilitation facility.

Sheridan proves to be far more difficult than expected, and what begins as a routine transport quickly turns into a chaotic journey involving drugs, criminals and a collection of increasingly bizarre characters. The two drivers are already poorly equipped for the assignment, but Sheridan’s behavior pushes their situation well beyond what either man anticipated.

The road-trip structure gives Blair plenty of room for escalating disasters, but there is another thread running underneath the crude comedy. Mark and Davis are men who have already made plenty of bad decisions, while Sheridan represents someone whose wealth has protected him from many of the consequences of his own behavior.

The film occasionally uses that setup to poke at privilege, addiction and influencer culture. The satire can be sharp, particularly when Sheridan’s online persona clashes with the reality around him, although some critics have felt that the commentary never develops as fully as the comedy promises.

The final stretch is less successful than the journey itself, but the movie generally understands that its appeal comes from watching these three wildly incompatible people make increasingly terrible decisions.

Cast & Performances

• Dave Franco as Mark — Franco plays Mark as a fundamentally unqualified man who somehow keeps stumbling into worse situations. His commitment to the physical comedy gives the character much of his appeal.
• O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Davis — Jackson is one of the film’s biggest strengths. Davis has a more earnest personality than Mark, and the contrast between the two creates much of the movie’s comedy. Critics have particularly praised the chemistry between Jackson and Franco.
• Mason Thames as Sheridan — Thames gets an unusually unpleasant role compared with the heroic characters he has played elsewhere. Sheridan is spoiled, difficult and frequently infuriating, and Thames clearly enjoys leaning into that side of the character.
• Kiernan Shipka as Irina Anastas — Shipka makes a strong impression in a supporting role and has been singled out as one of the film’s scene-stealers.
• Peter Dinklage as Koko — Dinklage appears as a criminal figure who adds another layer of absurdity to the already chaotic trip.
• Nicholas Braun as Pricka Bush da Werewoof — Braun plays an eccentric SoundCloud rapper with an obsession with lycanthropy, fitting neatly into the movie’s deliberately strange supporting cast.
• Killer Mike as Pastor William Armstrong — Killer Mike adds another memorable supporting appearance as a pastor caught up in the film’s increasingly bizarre circumstances.

Franco and Jackson are the key pairing. Their personalities clash without making the characters feel completely interchangeable, which gives the road-trip comedy a reliable engine.

Release Date & Where to Watch

Idiots premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2026, where it screened under its original title, The Shitheads. Independent Film Company later acquired U.S. distribution rights and released the movie theatrically on August 28, 2026.

The film is a U.S. English-language comedy/crime movie, directed and written by Macon Blair, with a runtime of 98 minutes. It carries an R rating for sexual material, pervasive language, drug content and some violence/bloody images.

Where to watch: Idiots is currently playing in theaters in the U.S. A digital release is listed for September 22, 2026, so viewers who prefer to rent or buy it at home will have to wait until that date.

Box Office / Expectations

Idiots has opened to modest theatrical numbers. The Numbers currently reports $707,759 domestically and $26,721 internationally, giving the film a reported $734,480 worldwide gross so far.

Box Office Mojo’s tracking is slightly different, reporting approximately $700,000 domestically, while its figures for the film’s Russian/CIS release are reported separately. The difference reflects normal variations in reporting and update timing between box-office databases.

The movie opened across around 1,110 U.S. theaters, with an opening weekend of roughly $707,759 according to The Numbers. No reliable official production budget has been publicly established, making it impossible to judge profitability from the gross alone.

Critical reception has landed somewhere between appreciation and frustration. Rotten Tomatoes currently lists 59% from critics and 61% from verified audience ratings, with the general consensus being that the movie delivers enough inspired crude humor to satisfy viewers looking for an aggressively silly comedy, even if its edginess sometimes becomes exhausting.