Brian is a 2026 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Will Ropp and written by Mike Scollins. It stars Ben Wang, William H. Macy, Edi Patterson, Randall Park, Natalie Morales, Joshua Colley, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, and Thomas Barbusca.
Contents
Premise
An acerbic high-school student runs for class president in an attempt to get closer to his teacher.
Cast
Ben Wang as Brian
William H. Macy
Edi Patterson
Randall Park
Natalie Morales
Joshua Colley
Peyton Elizabeth Lee
Thomas Barbusca
Jacob Moskovitz
Mackenna Shults
Production
Principal photography wrapped in May 2025, in Oklahoma, for a coming-of-age comedy film by actor Will Ropp who made his feature film directorial debut, and Mike Scollins writing the script. Ben Wang was cast in the lead role as the titular character, alongside William H. Macy, Edi Patterson, and Randall Park. In June, Natalie Morales, Joshua Colley, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Thomas Barbusca, and Jacob Moskovitz were revealed to have joined the cast.
Release
Brian had its world premiere at the SXSW on March 14, 2026.
Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 14 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.00/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".