Bob Trevino Likes It review: a wonderful debut feature destined for indie cult status

Anyone who has a tough or outright non-existent relationship with a parent will understand the pain Lily Trevino is going through in Bob Trevino Likes It.

At only 25, the hard-done-by yet plucky Lily (rising star Barbie Ferreira) is without a mother, without a car and without a future. Her mum died when she was only a child, and her father, Bob Trevino, is an emotionally immature narcissist who relies on Lily for everything and gives nothing in return.

Bob’s the kind of guy that contacts his kid when he needs something, so he usually invites Lily to dinner if she agrees to pay, or if he’s trying to date someone who might be impressed by his ‘father’ skills. Played superbly by Third Rock From The Sun‘s French Stewart, Bob is about as likeable as a nail through your foot – and yet Lily puts up with it, because she has no one else.

As outrageous as his behaviour is, it will be painfully familiar to those who have experienced selfish, distant parents.

Lily finds herself unexpectedly estranged from Bob when a date goes sour and he lumps all the blame onto her – and, ever the people pleaser, she believes she deserves it. Later, at her first ever therapy session, Lily scoffs at a self-help ad for people who have ‘abandoned’ themselves: that can’t physically be possible, she muses.

Then suddenly, the mere act of recounting her (very traumatic, but normal to Lily) life story has left her therapist uncontrollably wailing. This is the first indicator of many that maybe, just maybe, Lily has put herself last in life.

The real inciting incident comes soon after, when a desperate Facebook search for her dad leads to Lily accidentally befriending another Bob Trevino who lives nearby. This Bob, played by the very talented and always delightful John Leguizamo, is a building contractor with nothing much going on in his life – and, more importantly, no kids of his own. Dismissing the inherent oddness of Lily’s desire to connect with a stranger, he finds himself drawn to her and wanting to learn more.

They quickly form an unlikely friendship predicated on blind trust and curiosity that will melt even the stoniest of hearts.

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Watch the trailer for Bob Trevino Likes It:

Barbie Ferreira as Lily Trevino charismatically leads an emotionally devastating script from debut writer-director Tracie Laymon in Bob Trevino Likes It. Here, Laymon has vulnerably drawn from her own similar experiences to pen the loveable mess that is Lily, and the endlessly endearing Bob (and the other, terrible Bob that unfortunately happens to be Lily’s biological father).

All of the characters in the world feel real and known, and the actors deftly balance the tumultuous tragicomedy of it all. For a first-time film, it’s notably well-executed.

As a 2025 release it feels oddly nostalgic, invoking the indie-quirk explosion of the early 2000s. Films like Juno and Garden State come to mind as Lily nervous-laughs and wry-smiles her way through a decidedly shitty life.

Lily’s unusual but innocent relationship with the better Bob (Leguizamo) is also unavoidably reminiscent of age-gap film friendships like Harold and Maude, and ‘older man brings younger woman out of shell’ movies like An Education. Though, unlike those narratives, this connection between Lily and Bob never veers out of the strictly platonic. He’s literally filling a void in her life as the father she realises she never had. Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Lily is not.

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Bob Trevino Likes It is a mature, accomplished indie flick that had me cry-sobbing, and then just sobbing until the credits finished rolling. Given its major film festival circuit run last year, I suspect it will quietly achieve a cult status, if not an immediate dedicated following once it opens in cinemas here this week.

Go and see it – and bring a large box of tissues.

Bob Trevino Likes It is in Australian cinemas from 20 March 2025.