All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane

All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane
Directed byLouise Alston
Written byStephen Vagg
Based on
All My Friends Are Returning to Brisbane
by Stephen Vagg
Produced byLouise Alston
Andrew Steel
Stephen Vagg
StarringNelle Lee
Andrew Steel
Kym Jackson
Dan Ewing
CinematographyChase Brockett
Edited byEmma McKenna
Music byPru Montin
Production
company
Bunker Productions International
Release date
  • May 1, 2026 (2026-05-01) (Gold Coast Film Festival)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget$13,000[1]

All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane is a 2026 Australian romantic comedy-drama film directed by Louise Alston, written by Stephen Vagg and starring Nelle Lee.[2] Based on Vagg's 2023 stage play All My Friends are Returning to Brisbane, it has been described as a "spiritual sequel" to All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane (2007), which Alston and Vagg also respectively directed and wrote.[3]

Premise

A woman, Cris, is dumped by her fiance in London and returns to Brisbane after a decade away. She reconnects with her best friend Michelle, and goes to work with her ex-boyfriend, Scooter, who is married and has a child.

Cast

  • Nelle Lee as Cris
  • Andrew Steel as Scooter
  • Kym Jackson as Michelle
  • Dan Ewing as Neil Hutchison
  • Tim Ross as Aram
  • Julian Curtis as Toby
  • Brooke Lee as Ainsley
  • Cindy Nelson as Vicky
  • Matt Domingo as Dom
  • Christopher Sommers as Kane
  • Adam Koudi as Trey
  • Megan Alston as Becky
  • Amy Ingram as AJ
  • Matt James as Liam
  • Jackson Steel as Fraser
  • Nicholas Clasohm as Rory
  • Jolie Sainsbury as Leith

Production

The film is based on Vagg's stage play All My Friends Are Returning to Brisbane, which was given a public reading in 2022 and a staged production in 2023.[4][5][6]

The film was shot over April and May 2025 in Brisbane.[1][3][5][7] The budget was given as $13,000 although this appears to be a cash budget and not including deferrals.[8][5][1] One of the characters, Neil Hutchison, is named after the head of drama at ABC in the 1950s.[9]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Gold Coast Film Festival, where it won Best Queensland Feature.[10] It went into general release in Brisbane on May 29, 2026.[11][1][12][13][14] Originally booked for three sessions at Five Star Cinemas in New Farm, the film was given an additional week at the cinema due to all three sessions selling out, before being given additional screenings due to high demand and positive word of mouth. Alston and Vagg attended each screening to provide a question-and-answer session.[15][16]

Reception

Rob McKnight of TV Blackbox wrote "I was genuinely engaged with the story, made lovingly by a cast and crew... a delightful story."[17] Phillipe Blake in The Big Curious called it "a very honest, very funny, very Brisbane film about the specific experience of coming home to a city that has changed around you, and finding out whether you've changed too.”[18] Lloyd Marken of Scenestr called it "a charming and witty dramedy".[19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Vagg, Stephen (7 April 2026). "No-budget, caffeine-fuelled Brisbane flick to premiere on the Gold Coast". In Daily Qld. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  2. ↑ "All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane". Screen Australia. 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 "All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane 'Spiritual' Sequel in Production, Where Else…". Filmink. May 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  4. ↑ "Coming back triumph". Blue Curtains Brisbane. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 Vagg, Stephen (15 April 2025). "The agony and the ecstasy: How to make a DIY movie in Brisbane". InDaily Qld. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "All My Friends Were Leaving Brisbane; Now They Are Returning". Filmink. 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "Nelle Lee is Back in Brisbane – Only She Never Left". Filmink. May 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  8. ↑ Slatter, Sean (2 June 2026). "How lessons from Myspace and a rule of three are shaping the distribution of 'All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane'". IF Magazine. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  9. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (23 April 2026). "untitled". Facebook. Australian Media Oral History Group. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  10. ↑ "All My Friends Are Winning Best Queensland Feature Film Awards". Filmink. May 2026. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  11. ↑ "Cult Brisbane rom-com returns: All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane to premiere at Gold Coast Film Festival". Filmink. March 2026. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  12. ↑ "Brisbane's Prodigal Daughter Returns: The "Spiritual Sequel" Two Decades in the Making". The Urbanite. May 2026. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  13. ↑ "All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane Gets Extended Season". Filmink. 31 May 2026. Retrieved 31 May 2026.
  14. ↑ "Review: Why 'All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane' is the Heartfelt Homecoming We Need". The Urbanite. 1 June 2026. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  15. ↑ "All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane Gets Extended Season". Filmink. June 2026. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  16. ↑ "All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane Gets a Second Extended Season". Filmink. 10 June 2026. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  17. ↑ McKnight, Rob (6 May 2026). "Why Facebook shouldn't have to pay for news". TV Blackbox. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  18. ↑ Blake, Phillipe (1 June 2026). "All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane: The Little Film That Bet on This City — and Won". The Big Curious. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  19. ↑ Marken, Lloyd (1 June 2026). "All My Friends Are Back In Brisbane Film Review". Scenestr. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
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