This film is an uncomfortable, graphic and bold film with a take on Millennial and Gen Z romantic relationships. Our problem with the film is that we had trouble figuring out what it really wanted to be. Was it supposed to be like Fifty Shades of Gray, or even more disturbing like Misery?
Writer/Director Sophie Brooks wrote this during the pandemic to be romantic but also absurd and sexy. And she succeeds. It’s being marketed like an off-beat romcom, and although there’s some comedy, we found that it was just difficult to make sense of the turn it took in the middle of the movie.
Iris (Molly Gordon-The Bear, Theater Camp) and Isaac (Logan Lerman – The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Bullet Train, We Were the Lucky Ones) are a cute couple going off to an AirBNB for a romantic weekend. They’ve been seeing each other for awhile and enjoying the physical part of their relationship. Exploring their weekend digs, they go for a swim and their nosy old neighbor, Steve (David Cross) warns that there is no intercourse in the lake. Iris reassures Steve and Cross adds some comedy with his dry attitude walking away. He actually provides some of the best laughs in the film.
As Iris and Isaac explore their weekend getaway, Iris finds sex toys in a closet and smiles. Here’s our first clue that something enticing might happen. As the evening goes on she proposes a little bondage and Isaac goes along with it. But after steamy sex, there’s a lack of agreement about where their relationship is headed. She proudly states, “Our first trip as a couple.” He doesn’t agree that they are a couple and Iris goes a bit nuts. She takes charge letting Isaac think about it, while he’s still cuffed to the bed. And she’s wants to keep him there until she can change his mind. And he was reportedly in that bed for 10 days while they were shooting those scenes.
As time goes by, she seeks her best friend Max (Geraldine Viswanathan (Thunderbolts, Drive-Away Dolls, The Beanie Bubble) for advice and she shows up with her boyfriend Kenny (John Reynolds- Stranger Things and Yellowjackets). They are horrified! What has she gotten them all into?
The movie moves along at a slow pace getting more outrageous, awkward as they looking for some exit from this more than troubling situation. Desperate, they look for some kind of witchcraft or potion that can solve the problem and it gets really weird.
This film starts with an imaginative idea and actors Gordon and Lerman are fun to watch as an attractive young couple trying to navigate the dating landscape. Unfortunately, Brooks’ wacko storyline becomes a bit too ludicrous and exasperating to amuse.
Sony Pictures Classics 1 hour 34 minutes R
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