After Watching John Leguizamo’s New Movie, I Need To Talk About The Importance Of Its Found Family Message

There have been a lot of under-the-radar movies released in 2025, and I’m here to help draw more attention to one of them. After premiering at SXSW in 2024 and winning both the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Award and the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, John Leguizamo’s latest movie, Bob Trevino Likes It, received a limited theatrical release on March 9 and is now available to stream with a Hulu subscription. Now that I’ve finally seen the movie after viewing the trailer months back, I need to talk about how its message of found family was important to me.

What Bob Trevino Likes It Is About

Based on a true story from writer and director Tracie Lymon, Bob Trevino Likes It follows a 25-year-old woman named Lily Trevino, played by Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira, who becomes estranged from her narcissistic and emotionally abusive father, Bob, played by French Stewart. Having been abandoned by her mother as a child, and coming off a bad breakup, Lily is desperate to reconnect with her father. So after failing to reach him on the phone and at his house, she seeks him out on Facebook and sends a friend request to an account that doesn’t have a profile picture. It actually belongs to John Leguizamo’s Bob Trevino.

This Bob is a married construction manager who, like Lily, doesn’t have many friends, and has also lost a child. After he likes some of her posts, the two strike up a conversation, begin a real friendship, and eventually meet in person. As they spend time together, Leguizamo’s Bob shows Lily more kindness and compassion than her own father ever did, and they both help each other become better people.

Bob Trevino Likes It Does An Amazing Job Highlighting Found Family

John Leguizamo (who will be seen next year in The Odyssey) and Barbie Ferrera give great performances in Bob Trevino Likes It, and the movie is wonderfully directed, but the focus on found family particularly struck a chord with me. Not only am I often drawn to stories where people unrelated by blood are in a tight-knit group will look out for one another like they would a parent, sibling, or child, I have some experience with this in real life. Besides my parents, I’m not particularly close with anyone in my extended family for various reasons, and I’ve found more fulfilling relationships with friends for most of my life.

I won’t share any more specific Bob Trevino Likes It plot details, but the important takeaway is that Lily starts off wanting familial connection so bad that she’s willing to endure her father’s toxic behavior. But just because you’re related to someone by blood doesn’t mean you have to put up with mistreatment or abuse from them, should you find yourself in such a situation. Family can be formed from people from all walks of life, given the right circumstances. If you can find such kinship, count yourself incredibly lucky and hold onto it tightly.

Again, Bob Trevino Likes It can be streamed on Hulu, so carve out some time to watch it if you haven’t already. The chemistry between John Leguizamo and Barbie Ferreira’s two characters, who come together under unusual circumstances, was so great to watch, and the heartwarming story was another reminder for me about how family can stretch beyond genetic connection if the relationship is strong enough.