Review: André Is an Idiot Offers Tender Portrait of Unique Man's Death

Tony Benna's documentary counters culture's panic and shame around death

Mar. 16, 2026 at 9:26pm

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André Is an Idiot is a documentary that offers a raw and incisive portrait of a unique man's death. The film follows André Ricciardi, a Bay Area family man committed to a disordered life, as he navigates his stage-four colon cancer diagnosis and treatment. Through interviews with his wife, children, and best friend, viewers come to understand André as a deeply unsentimental person, which informs the film's aesthetic. The documentary features unsparing scenes of André's distended body after a year and a half of chemo, as well as confrontations with the pressures placed upon his caretaker wife, Janice. While the film's coda featuring an AI voice reading André's final diary entry is a misstep, overall André Is an Idiot is a tender but not cloying portrait of a unique man's death.

Why it matters

André Is an Idiot is one of a few recent documentaries that aim to counter our culture's panic and shame around death. By focusing on the unique story of André Ricciardi, the film offers a raw and unsentimental look at the realities of terminal illness and the dying process, providing a counterpoint to more saccharine depictions of death and dying.

The details

The documentary follows André Ricciardi, a Bay Area family man with stage-four colon cancer, as he navigates his diagnosis and treatment. Through interviews with his wife Janice, their children, and his best friend Lee, viewers come to understand André as a deeply unsentimental person who is committed to a disordered life. The film features unsparing scenes of André's distended body after a year and a half of chemo, as well as confrontations with the pressures placed upon Janice as his caretaker. Director Tony Benna's aesthetic is informed by André's personality, with the film including stop-motion segments and André's pitches for a reality show called "Who Wants to Kill Me?" and ideas for his corpse, such as blasting the whole thing into space.

  • André Ricciardi was diagnosed with stage-four colon cancer in his 50s.

The players

André Ricciardi

The subject of the documentary, a Bay Area family man with stage-four colon cancer who is committed to a disordered life.

Janice Ricciardi

André's wife, who serves as his caretaker during his illness.

Lee

André's best friend.

Tony Benna

The director of the documentary André Is an Idiot.

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The takeaway

André Is an Idiot offers a raw and unsentimental look at the realities of terminal illness and the dying process, providing a counterpoint to more saccharine depictions of death and dying. The film's focus on the unique story of André Ricciardi and its unsparing aesthetic informed by his personality make it a compelling addition to the recent wave of documentaries exploring themes of death and mortality.