OUTCOME (2026) Review

Review

In 2018, Jonah Hill impressed audiences with his directorial debut, Mid90s, a grounded and straightforward coming-of-age film that encapsulated the feel of the era it set itself in. Now, Hill is back in the directing chair and going for something different with Outcome, a star-studded dark comedy for Apple TV…about the paranoia of cancel culture.

On paper, this film should work in more ways than one, especially considering its cast, which is made up of great actors like Keanu Reeves, Matt Bomer, Cameron Diaz and even Martin Scorsese. Unfortunately, in execution, the film feels a bit confused about what it wants to do.

From the start, Outcome fires from the hip when it comes to its subject matter and comedy, but by doing so, it only hits some of its intended targets. The jokes presented here are not subtle in the slightest, sometimes even coming across as forced or obnoxious, especially where Jonah Hill’s Ira is concerned, as he is a character who’s designed to be annoying. The jokes that do land are the simpler, less intrusive ones that fly under the radar in the form of a quick, snide comment or a cynical jab. The film succeeds when it uses more of this style of humour, but when it veers back to its loud, in-your-face approach, it can ruin the punchline it is so committed to landing in the first place.

However, the film isn’t always trying to make you laugh, as it has a layer of heart underneath its scathing surface that is effective on the few occasions it’s used. When Reef is going around town apologising to people from his past, or even during open chats with his two friends, Kyle and Xander, it successfully taps into a sincere side of these characters that feels genuinely earned. The only downside to this is that these moments are few and far between, but they also can appear slightly rushed as well, not giving them the room to breathe that they really deserve.

The film as a whole struggles with this balancing act between comedy and heart. Just as a scene is working for its intended purpose, we’re abruptly pulled away to focus on the next thing, which is very jarring every single time it happens. There generally seems to be a lack of focus within the story besides Reef’s core goal, never quite knowing what to give ample screentime to, and not allowing the emotional or comedic weight to stick its landing. This results in a film that can be a bit hollow despite its best intentions. It also makes Reef’s journey for redemption feel underwhelming by the end, as avenues are explored but are never allowed to sit and ruminate as they should.

The performances, for the most part, do a lot of the heavy lifting here, most notably in the form of the more mature turns from the likes of Scorsese, Diaz and Bomer. The over-the-top ones, on the other hand, are a bit more varied in terms of their success rate. As previously mentioned, Hill’s approach to playing Ira can be grating at times, and it is clear that this is the point, but he can go too far in one direction, whereby a scene can lose its momentum. Some examples do work, such as Drew Barrymore, who plays a aggitated version of herself, but she is only given one scene to work her magic.

Outcome has plenty of good ideas, but none of them are given the consideration or time to fully flourish into anything worthwhile. Considering its snappy 1 hour 24 minute runtime, a lot more could have been done to stretch things out instead of hurrying from one scene to the next. Though it is not all bad, with good elements to be found here and there, it is a shame that a project with this much potential and star power behind it results in such an unfocused and ultimately disappointing final product.

Verdict

Outcome is a film that tries a lot of things but only succeeds at a few of them. When it doubles down on lampooning the modern media landscape or showing some genuine heart, it works. Everything else is very it very hit and miss in the long run.

⭐⭐.5