This review was originally published on March 29, 2024, as a part of our 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival coverage.
Tracie Laymon’s Bob Trevino Likes It is not your typical based-on-a-true-story movie about a young woman finding her neglectful father on Facebook. In fact, it’s a touch stranger than that. Yet, its unusual nature gives way to such a sweet, emotional, and funny portrait of two people in need of healing from a complete stranger. The world can be an odd place, and Laymon shares with us just how weird and wonderful it can be.
Bob Trevino Likes It follows Lily (Barbie Ferreira), a miserable young woman dealing with abandonment issues caused by her parents. We meet her as she relays her life story to a therapist. Like so many of us, she hides behind a cheery disposition, rapidly going through what would be perfect fodder for a depressing memoir. You hope she gets the help that she needs, but the help she seeks is sitting across from her in tears. Now, Lily is doing the emotional labor of caring about someone else’s feelings because her life is just too sad.
Tracie Laymon Crafts A Beautiful Story With Bob Trevino Likes It
It’s One That Embraces The Strange, Sad, Hopeful Aspects Of Life & Humanity
Laymon effectively utilizes comedy to complement and accentuate the emotional underbelly of her story. Because it is a way of life, the best we can do when hardship arises is laugh through it. Yet, Laymon’s film is a tearjerker; it will push those emotional ʙuттons hard and repeтιтively, but like Lily, Bob Trevino Likes It still has a substantial reservoir of hope and light. Unabashedly hopeful, we see Lily find the kindness and humanity she craves in a complete stranger. And vice versa, as Lily, the caretaker, finds someone who needs her as much as she needs them.
Ferreira has this uncanny ability to balance Lily’s unfortunate and depressing story with a sweetness and grace that evokes a warm, comforting sensation.
Lily is eager for her father’s approval, so she searches for him on Facebook, only to find another man named Bob Trevino (John Leguizamo). This stranger offers Lily the bare minimum, liking her posts and basically acknowledging her existence. Such a simple act opens Lily up to a whole new possibility for healing and growth.
Bob has his own battles; tragedy fractured his marriage despite being in a loving relationship. Bob works hard for his wife in the same way that Lily finds refuge in an overly exaggerated chipper persona. When the two meet, their needs align perfectly, allowing the other to fill the void and help heal. Lily needs a surrogate father, and Bob needs a surrogate child.
Barbie Ferreira Rises To The Challenge
John Leguizamo Gives A Career-Best Performance
Ferreira is a revelation. Many realized this when she was on the HBO show Euphoria, but as is the case with ensemble casts, one or two always fall off the hype train. With Bob Trevino Likes It, Laymon does what Sam Levinson regretfully neglected to do: Let Ferreira shine. And credit to the actress for knowing her worth and finding creatives like Laymon who will give her the material she needs to show off an impressive range and dazzling charisma.
Ferreira has this uncanny ability to balance Lily’s unfortunate and depressing story with a sweetness and grace that evokes a warm, comforting sensation. She leads us on a journey and ultimately leaves us knowing that Lily will be okay. Paired with Leguizamo, the two effortlessly navigate the emotional minefield of two people connecting on such a compᴀssionate level with a genuine spirit. It’s effortlessly funny and moving.
Laymon effectively utilizes comedy to complement and accentuate the emotional underbelly of her story.
Leguizamo is undoubtedly at a career-high with this performance. Without Ferreira, Leguizamo would be good, but not as great as he is here, especially since the chemistry between Lily and Bob is so essential. Laymon’s movie is inspired by her experiences with her own Bob. For a relationship in one’s life to be so profound that it encourages a film adaptation, the onscreen relationship must be seamless. Ferreira and Leguizamo deliver that and then some. They’re so good and this film is so emotionally moving that you should invest in multiple tissues.
Bob Trevino Likes It is a success because, unlike many dramedies of this nature, it doesn’t wallow in the pain, and we do not pity the characters. Laymon expertly crafts a narrative that feels as universal as it is unique. This film embraces a hopeful path, expressing with absolute sincerity that believing in the humanity of others is essential to healing.
Bob Trevino Likes It premiered at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival and is now playing in theaters.
