In 2023, as the documentary begins, Steele and Ferrell briefly meet up with Steele's two daughters at a restaurant before setting out on a road trip. They start in New York City, where they visit Studio 8H and have a reunion with SNL cast and alum Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, Colin Jost, Paula Pell, and Tim Meadows.[6] Tim Meadows recalls receiving an email from Steele in which she opens up about being trans, which Meadows initially took as a joke based on what he knew about Steele's humor.
In Peoria, Illinois, they meet another woman, Dana, who has received gender-affirming care at a later stage of life like Steele. Dana explains that she sought counseling to cope with the hardship of the mismatch between her own conception of her female gender and others who were telling her that she was male.
On the way to Iowa City, Iowa, they contact Kristen Wiig and ask her to write a song for their road trip. Once in Iowa City, they meet with Steele's sister, Eleanor, where Steele recounts a story of being given frilly bell-bottoms by Eleanor, loving them, but ultimately not wearing them after receiving homophobic slurs for it. Steele also recalls her childhood as she looks through baby photos, visits her childhood home, and rides a unicycle.
They next go to Meeker, Oklahoma, where Steele enters a dive bar alone, before later being joined by Ferrell upon her request. Following this, they go to a steakhouse in Amarillo, Texas where the social media comments are revealed to be filled with prejudice against Steele. Ferrell dresses up as Sherlock Holmes in the hopes of getting a laugh out of the audience, but also unintentionally draws attention to Harper and her trans identity. Though Ferrell now looks back on the encounter as being extremely transphobic, he was unable to resonate with Steele's fears in the moment.[8] Everyone crowds around Ferrell due to his fame. As they continue on their trip afterwards, Steele admits to previously having suicidal thoughts, which had made her swear off from buying a gun.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, they ride a hot-air balloon with Will Forte. After, they go to Grand Canyon National Park, where the woman taking their picture shares that she is a retired therapist and once had a patient with gender dysphoria, but was regrettably close-minded towards them. Their next stop is Las Vegas, where they go to SW Steakhouse; Steele buys a dress and has her makeup done, while Ferrell buys a wig and mustache to disguise himself. During their dinner, Steele acknowledges that while Ferrell being her companion is why she has not received much open transphobia, it has also given her self-confidence.
The pair go to Trona, San Bernardino County, California, where Steele reveals she had purchased the house several years back, as a means to escape from society and be able to perform as a woman. The house now, however, has been vandalized. They have an emotional moment where Steele breaks down and Ferrell comforts her, with the former saying that even if she had stayed in Trona, she would have had to hide from the community and keep her true self only within the house. As they leave, they light the fireworks and flares they had bought from Oklahoma.
On their last day, Steele gives in to Ferrell's demand for Dunkin' Donuts, for which he had been asking the whole trip. Their final stop is Los Angeles, where they first go to a nail salon with Molly Shannon and talk to her about what they learned about each other during the road trip. After, Steele and Ferrell go to a beach where they reminisce over the trip, their friendship, and the future; Ferrell also gifts Steele diamond earrings. Steele then suggests they do another road trip back to New York City, to which Ferrell agrees.
As the movie ends, Wiig reveals to have finished the song, naming it Harper and Will Go West, which plays over the credits along with miscellaneous footage from their trip.
Comedian Will Ferrell and writer Harper Steele met at the American sketch comedy television program Saturday Night Live where Ferrell was a cast member for several years;[9] they later co-wrote Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.[10] Steele reached out to Ferrell among other friends during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 to inform them of her intention to go through gender transition. Steele said: "I should've made that decision 40 years ago. But I wouldn't have had you guys; I wouldn't have gotten hired [at Saturday Night Live]. I would have had a completely different life."[11]
Ferrell helped produce the film, documenting a road trip the two subsequently took, alongside Jessica Elbaum, Christopher Leggett, and Rafael Marmor. The filmmakers initially considered deliberately creating comedic moments, but decided to let funny moments occur spontaneously instead.[11]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 99% of 122 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10.The website's consensus reads: "Endearing and heartfelt, Will & Harper is an ode and testament to long-lasting love, acceptance and evolution within a friendship."[14]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[15]
The New York Times critic Manohla Dargis called the film "A Transcendent Road Trip," and summarized that "a documentary about Will Ferrell and his friend Harper Steele brought the house down" at the Sundance Film Festival.[16] At Collider, Taylor Gates rated this an 8 out of 10 and characterized it as a "must-watch", praising the principals' openness and the mixture of educational and entertainment elements, but critiquing the pacing.[17]The Daily Beast's Kevin Fallon opined that this film will save lives for being "brave and characteristically unusual".[18] Benjamin Lee of The Guardian rated this film 3 out of 5 stars, writing that "there are enough earned moments of piercing sadness and shaggy humour that those that feel more engineered can distract, the film trying to force itself into the structure of something it doesn't need to be, pushing us away just after we've been pulled in close".[19] Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter stated that the film "works because, at its core, the doc is a tribute to Ferrell and Steele's evolving friendship" and that the pair's "level of honesty keeps the conversations grounded and helps the documentary avoid turning Steele into a prop for Ferrell's education".[20] Lauren Wissot of IndieWire graded the documentary a B−, stating that the narrative is "admirable and understandable" but "trapped in a mushy middle state, forever prevented from rising to the level of either great drama or great comedy".[21]
In a capsule review out of Sundance, Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com praised Greenbaum's direction and continued that the film shows "a pure, true companionship here that should serve as a reminder to call that person in your life who might need someone to talk to".[22] In Rolling Stone David Fear called Will & Harper "a portrait of a friendship and how the fundamentals of a deep and lasting bond doesn't change even when the people within it do" that is "flawed" but "priceless".[23] Writing for United Press International, Fred Topel ended his review calling this "a touching journey with two friends sharing laughs that can help start more conversations amongst people Steele and Ferrell will never meet".[24] Peter Debruge of Variety wrote that "It can sound like a cliché to say that any given movie is what the world needs now, but Will & Harper earns that distinction. Struggling to recognize her own beauty in a society that often seems determined to deny her identity altogether, Steele brings the trans experience down to earth. Meanwhile, by accepting his fledgling gal pal on her own terms—and asking how to make her more comfortable in her own skin—Ferrell sets the best kind of example. We should all be so lucky as to have friends like these."[25] Bilge Ebiri of Vulture ended his review: "The film's familiarity may well be part of its design. It clearly wants to help change hearts and minds, and find purchase with audiences that would otherwise avoid a movie with a subject like this."[11]
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