Your Friends & Neighbors (2025) Review: Hamm Robs the Rich

Is Your Friends & Neighbors worth watching?

Yes. Your Friends & Neighbors is a silky, entertaining suburban noir, and Jon Hamm’s rueful charisma makes a disgraced financier turned cat burglar far more fun to watch than he has any right to be. The Apple TV+ series skewers the manners and secrets of the very rich with a sharp eye and a steady supply of dark comedy. The reservation is that it enjoys the luxury it satirises almost as much as its characters do, and the crime plotting leans on contrivance as the stakes rise.

What is Your Friends & Neighbors about?

Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Jon Hamm) had the hedge-fund career, the marriage and the manicured life in the wealthy enclave of Westmont Village. Then he lost all three. Unwilling to admit how far he has fallen, he starts letting himself into his neighbours’ mansions and taking the watches, cash and valuables they will never miss. Along the way he discovers that the people around him are hiding secrets far uglier than his own, and his scheme to keep up appearances soon collides with a murder investigation, his complicated family and, in the second season, a billionaire rival played by James Marsden.

Amanda Peet plays Coop’s ex-wife and Olivia Munn a neighbour tangled up in his life, with Hoon Lee, Mark Tallman, Aimee Carrero, Isabel Gravitt and Donovan Colan rounding out the cast. Created by Jonathan Tropper, Your Friends & Neighbors is an American series in English on Apple TV+. This review covers the two seasons released so far, 19 episodes in total, and the series is continuing.

Jon Hamm in a role that fits like a tailored suit

Hamm has spent years playing men whose polished surfaces hide something rotten, and here he turns that persona into comedy. Coop is witty, self-aware and weary, a man who knows exactly how ridiculous his situation is and cannot stop himself anyway. Hamm makes him sympathetic without asking viewers to excuse him, and his dry reactions to each new humiliation give the series much of its humour.

The supporting cast holds up well. Amanda Peet brings bite and warmth to an ex-wife who knows Coop better than anyone, and Olivia Munn adds unpredictability. In the second season, James Marsden’s slippery charm gives Coop an opponent who plays by even fewer rules than he does, and the rivalry sharpens the show’s sense of menace.

A satire of wealth that loves the view

Jonathan Tropper’s writing is at its sharpest when it catalogues the rituals of the rich: the dinner parties, the status objects, the marriages held together by money and appearances. Each burglary doubles as a small investigation into who these people really are, and the show finds dark comedy in how little the wealthy notice what is missing. The production design is sumptuous, all glass walls, perfect lawns and gleaming kitchens.

That glossiness is also the show’s weakness. For a satire, it is remarkably comfortable in these houses, and its critique of privilege rarely bites as hard as it could. The series works best as a stylish guilty pleasure rather than a serious indictment.

When the crime plot tightens

As the story shifts from petty theft to more dangerous territory, the plotting becomes busier and more reliant on coincidence and near misses. Some family subplots feel like filler between the heists. The show keeps its momentum thanks to its cast and brisk episodes, but viewers wanting tight crime mechanics may notice the seams.

Who should watch Your Friends & Neighbors?

It suits viewers who enjoy antihero crime dramas, suburban satire and glossy prestige television with a sense of humour, and fans of Jon Hamm in particular. Two seasons of hour-long episodes make it a comfortable binge. It is rated for adults: expect strong language, sexual content and some violence.

Next on the list:

• Breaking Bad for the definitive story of a respectable man discovering a talent for crime.
• Margo’s Got Money Troubles for another comic drama about financial desperation and unconventional solutions.
• The Sopranos for suburban wealth, family and crime at their most searching.

The verdict

Your Friends & Neighbors is a slick, witty crime drama that makes the most of Jon Hamm’s charm and turns a wealthy suburb into a playground of secrets. Its satire is gentler than it thinks, and the plotting grows contrived, but it remains a highly entertaining watch.

Rating: 4/5