Mikes Film Talk

The 2025 comedy/horror film Et Tu could have been called “The Ides of Death.” Although any “play” on Julius Caesar by the Bard, would work as well. (See what we did there?) One could even make a reference to Hamlet, there is after all, a ghost?

*While Et Tu premiered on the festival circus in 2023, it did not release on the internet until 2025.*

The Story of Et Tu

A director is driven to extreme measures while rehearsing a regional production of Julius Caesar. In fact, he goes a little bit out of control with all the ongoing problems.

Et Tu Cast

Lou Diamond Phillips is Brent.

Malcolm McDowell is The Janitor.

Antwone Barnes is Terrence.

Isabella Blake-Thomas is Margaret.

Rachel Alig is Nadine.

Brennan Keel Cook is Marcus.

Jaclyn Mofid is Vicky.

Trevor James is Phillip.

Let’s Talk Et Tu

Lou Diamond Phillips plays this role with his usual aplomb. As his character’s frustration steadily increases so too does his inclination to find final solutions to annoying problems. Regional productions are their own special sort of headache. Local egos, inflated sense of importance and “visiting” directors all increase the tension on stage.

Michael Caine once said that “People don’t like seeing shows about actors.” Sir Michael is not wrong. There are not any box office numbers for this one though. So it is hard to see how popular it was upon its limited release in 2024.

However.

Brent, the director, loses his tenuous grip on sanity as things go from simply bad to screamingly worse. The first death is almost accidental; although Brent causes this by being a tad vindictive. He does finish the job started by Terrence when it looks like the victim is going to recover.

The comedy comes from watching Brent walking that tightrope and failing miserably to control himself. McDowell is spot on as the janitor who is full of helpful advice. His character also seems to know quite a lot about the theatre’s sordid past.

To Be, or, Not To Be

The actors here are all egotistic and supercilious ratbags. All willing to do whatever to get ahead. Sure, the play is Shakespeare and the play itself is pretty bloodthirsty. Mind you, that is the vast majority of the Bard’s plays. Death holds sway over all, etc, etc.

This has to be one of the funniest horror films on offer. Listening to the story Brent relates to Marcus early on, history hysterically repeats itself. Soon there are a plethora of dead bodies cluttering up the pulleys backstage.

All the players, playing the actors; if you will, bring a lot to this metaphorical table. Kudos to Barnes and Blake-Thomas as the “star crossed” would be lovers. They completely rock it.

Shout out to writer/director Max Tzannes. He knocks this one out of the park. It is on par with the locked stateroom scene in that old Marx Bros film, A Night at the Opera. Just this time, it is dead bodies and not a multitude of live ones all trapped in one small room. Regardless, this dark humour works very well.

The Verdict

Despite the goof, at the end of the film, the janitor suddenly has a gaping hole in his head not visible before, Et Tu is a solid 4 star winner. The film is streaming on Tubi and Plex. It can also be rented for pennies on Prime. If you want a good laugh, head on over and watch this one.

The Trailer