‘Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy’ Review | The art of missing the perfect opportunity

Only a few actors can claim the level of acclaim Matthew Perry achieved. The beloved star, best known for playing Chandler Bing on Friends, died on October 28, 2023. But what followed his tragic passing

quickly turned into a circus. Nearly an hour-long documentary, Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy, acknowledges that in the coverage and the buzz that followed, the fact that a human life was lost almost got buried beneath the spectacle.

And yet, they went on to do just that.

The documentary attempts to cover the actor’s life and death, but it feels rushed, as if the filmmakers were eager to be first rather than thorough. It touches on Perry’s childhood, his struggles with addiction, his efforts to help others facing similar battles, his death and the investigation that follows. On paper, it’s a perfect formula: a deep dive into the life of a troubled star who brought laughter to millions. In practice, it lands somewhere below average.

There’s footage from Friends’ glory days, plus telling clips of paparazzi yelling for his attention every time he stepped outside. But beyond Morgan Fairchild, who played Chandler’s mother in the hit show, talking about her memories of Perry, and a clip of Courteney Cox, who played his partner Monica Geller, there’s nothing from other co-stars. Perry’s story is so much more than Friends, of course, but it was the sitcom that gave him global recognition. It makes the absence of the other four co-stars feel especially glaring. Hank Azaria is there, talking about how Perry helped his sobriety journey, but otherwise, the coverage feels thin.

And as we now know, behind the laughter and fame, Perry was battling demons. As he revealed in his 2022 autobiography Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, when Chandler was overweight, Perry was on the booze, when he was skinny, it was pills. It was almost always something.  A year after the book came out, Perry, 54, was found dead, drowned in his pool after suffering the acute effects of ketamine use. There are excerpts from the audiobook, read by Perry himself, that give a glimpse of his inner torment all those years.

What the documentary does get right is the aftermath of Perry’s death and the investigation that followed. Officers explain police procedures, the district attorney shows up to break down the network of ketamine suppliers in Los Angeles, who could provide a celebrity with as much of their chosen narcotic as they wanted. The film even names Cody McLaury, whose death has also been attributed to ketamine supplied by the same suspects, and acknowledges that Perry’s fame probably prompted the investigation in the first place.

Perhaps it would have worked better as a docuseries, or by focusing solely on the investigation. The intention was right, but trying to cram everything about his life from 1969 to 2023 and beyond into one hour did the damage.

If you’re a fan, you’ll cry nonetheless. But you’re better off crying while reading his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, than watching a documentary that underplays the legacy of a man who helped millions across the globe laugh in their toughest times, even as he lived a tragic life himself.

Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy premieres Jan 2, 2026, on discovery+

Also Read: The year music lost the light: Ozzy Osbourne, Zubeen Garg and the quiet after