Latest news with #SophieBrooks
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Breaking Down the Unconventional Rom-Com Ending of Oh, Hi!
Molly Gordon as Iris, Logan Lerman as Isaac in Oh, Hi! Credit - Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics Oh, Hi! It's a not-so-typical love story. Boy meets girl, they go on a romantic getaway together, and have sex. But after sleeping together, Isaac (Logan Lerman) reveals to Iris (Molly Gordon) that he has no interest in pursuing a serious relationship. When Isaac tells Iris this, he's still restrained by his hands and feet (they decided to use some handcuffs they found in the closet of their holiday home). Instead of uncuffing him and ending their relationship, Iris decides to keep him tied up, choosing to turn the weekend into a last-ditch effort to make Isaac love her. In this sense, Oh, Hi! feels like a riff on Misery. But while most films would be quick to condemn Iris for her decision, Sophie Brooks' film isn't interested in having a villain, nor is it in casting judgment on its characters. This is a different kind of romantic comedy, clearly, but it's also a thoughtful interrogation on the idea of being 'crazy,' a word often hurled as an accusation towards women. Of course, Iris is wrong to leave Isaac restrained, but Isaac manipulated her by taking her on a romantic getaway and acting like a madly in love couple, only to suddenly retract and say he's not interested in anything serious. You might say it's enough to make someone go…crazy. Oh, Hi! is a romantic comedy about contemporary dating, but also the way expectations impact our decision-making. 'Expectation and want are the makeup of every story,' says Brooks, who co-wrote and directed Oh, Hi! 'Expectations are inherent to conflict, and inherent to relationships.' Having Isaac and Iris be misaligned in their expectations reflects modern dating. We've gotten into a system where having wants and needs can be considered too much, and everyone should play it cool and act like they don't care.' When working on the movie, her second feature, Brooks was inspired by Joachim Trier's 2021 film The Worst Person in the World to write a rom-com that had a twist of darkness, that stuck to the genre's conventions while making something authentic about the perils of modern dating. 'I really wanted to have this female character who was unashamed of her desire for a relationship. Often in film and our culture, a man wanting love is considered romantic, and a woman wanting love is considered desperate or embarrassing. I think that's really unfair,' says Brooks. 'I'm leaning into the trope of the crazy woman, so she goes too far, and the moral is that you should never convince someone to be with you. But having expectations of someone you're wanting to date feels like a very normal thing to want.' Trying to find a way to get out of accidentally kidnapping Isaac, Iris recruits her best friend, Max (Geraldine Viswanathan), who brings along her boyfriend, Kenny (John Reynolds). Max has a surprising solution: a Wiccan spell to clear his memory. Brooks took inspiration from her lifelong love of witches. 'For a long time in elementary school, I was convinced I was a witch and would develop powers during puberty, and I was devastated when that didn't happen,' says Brooks. Max and Iris gather the ingredients and create a soup for Isaac to drink, but since he's extremely untrusting of Iris, they have Kenny (John Reynolds), Max's boyfriend, give it to him instead. For the potion to work, Iris has to bless it by chanting over an outside fire in the nude. Max stands by her, also naked, and they sway back and forth and chant together. She does it in 'solidarity.' It's not just a sweet moment, but a pointed exploration of women being friends in cinema. 'Female friendship in movies can so often have a tinge of competitiveness or be the source of drama. There are so many frenemies,' says Brooks. 'To have this female friendship that is pure and supportive, and having Max be ride or die for Iris, felt really honest to me. It's what my relationship is like with my friends.' That night, Isaac has a bizarre dream. In it, he's on a date with Iris at a bar, where they have an open and vulnerable conversation, and a gateway into understanding more of who Isaac is, and his hesitations on being in a relationship. Later in the dream, he finds himself at the house they're vacationing in, and heads outside to see Iris singing 'Islands in the Stream'—a callback to the opening scene where they're singing it together. Things are going well, and they dance in each other's arms, but suddenly Iris says, 'I hate you,' and Isaac wakes up. 'They really were falling for each other,' says Brooks. 'Unfortunately, just because two people like each other doesn't mean they're gonna figure it out or make it work.' When they're dancing in the dream sequence, it's enough to make you think that if circumstances were different, these two may have had a real chance at romance. 'There are so many miscommunications in the movie, and they're never on the same page, but in this dream sequence, they're completely aligned. It felt like an opportunity to see into Isaac's psyche and show that he does like her, and perhaps love her, but something is limiting him.' When Isaac awakes, he puts into action his escape plan. He's still handcuffed to the bed, but he plays it cool, acting like he has no memory of the events. Iris buys it, and uncuffs him. It speaks to her blind optimism and utter belief in the power of love that she could pull off a magical spell to rid Isaac of his memory, potentially even allowing them to start over. Heading downstairs, Isaac suggests making pancakes, but the flour is in the car. Iris has a flash of concern on her face, but that dissipates almost instantly, and she gives Isaac the keys. She celebrates with Kenny and Max, but it's short-lived—Isaac races off in the car. It turns out that because of an open window, Isaac heard their plan to erase his memory. Terrified that he'll go to the police, Kenny and Max want to pursue him, but Iris believes she's doomed and ready to take responsibility, and she goes back to bed. 'I wanted Iris to have that initial hope. Of course, she's going to doubt the spell worked, but her nature is hopeful, and she likes this guy, so she believes it. She wants to believe that maybe there's a path forward for them still," says Brooks. "And part of that is sad, but sometimes that's what life is. Sometimes it's sad to want something for you that isn't quite right, or even good for you." Iris is woken by a call from the police—her car, the one Isaac stole to escape, was found in a crash with nobody inside. Panicked, Iris heads into the forest to try and find Isaac, eventually discovering him wounded, lying against a fallen tree. You may expect the pair to fight, but instead they have a vulnerable conversation and apologize for the mistakes they've both made. 'I just wish you were honest,' Iris tells him, before sincerely apologizing for what she's done. 'I think by the time Isaac's left and she's able to settle and get some sleep, she's able to take a moment. She's like 'Whoa, I'm not sure how I got here', and she does apologize for her actions, which I thought was really important,' says Brooks. 'I didn't want the movie to end with her thinking she'd done the right thing. She knows she's gotten out of hand and she's embarrassed. But I hope what's nice for the audience is that Isaac learns he didn't handle himself correctly. If he had been honest, they wouldn't be in this situation. When Iris says she wishes he were honest, there's a real truth there. It's an acknowledgement that yes, she did something completely unhinged, and also he got her there.' At the end of the film, Isaac is carted away in an ambulance, and he and Iris have officially, permanently broken up. Iris leaves him with a fond goodbye that references her love of Casablanca: 'We'll always have O high,' she says. It's a callback to a conversation they had in the first scene, where Iris jokes to Isaac about a broken sign that read 'O High Falls' instead of 'High Falls.' But it's all completely lost on Isaac, reaffirming that these two were never truly on the same page. 'It's an example of, 'Oh boy. I was chasing this man, and he is not at all ready for a relationship,' Brooks says. The final shot is a close-up of Iris, who is processing a myriad of emotions before settling on a smile. It's a combination of relief, sadness, and hope. 'There's relief that she's gotten out of this weekend, and he seems not to be going to the cops. Sadness that this connection she felt is over and isn't going anywhere. But there's also a slight smile and light to her eyes, and I think she knows she's going to be okay,' says Brooks. As for whether or not Isaac calls the cops, Brooks has an answer for that, too: 'He's happy this chapter is over, and he doesn't want a legal battle. When he's honest with himself, he can see how they got mixed up in this miscommunication. He does take personal responsibility for how he ended up in that spot. Maybe the spell worked a little, and the part that worked is that he isn't gonna go to the cops.' Contact us at letters@
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Love and insecurity are the ties that bind in ‘Oh, Hi!'
It's tough to review 'Oh, Hi!' without giving away a major plot twist that comes early in the movie, but, so help me, I'm going to try. A suspense comedy as breezy and noncommittal as its title, this sophomore feature from writer-director Sophie Brooks is a deceptively low-fi affair, but it keeps a cheeky premise going for longer than it has any right to. Not that I can tell you what that premise is.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Oh, Hi!' Review: I'll Make You Love Me
I'm no expert on romance tropes, but I understand there's one that aficionados refer to as 'forced proximity,' in which two characters are unable to escape one another's company and, I presume, wind up falling madly in love. There's something to it: the idea that if someone was just forced to spend enough time in your physical presence, they'd come to see how irresistible you actually are. The appeal is obvious: not only the romance, though that's of course the point, but also the suggestion that you are, in fact, just that alluring. 'Oh, Hi!' is slightly more realistic twist on that setup, plausible but drawing on the same fantasy, albeit with a dose of darkly funny irony. Written and directed by Sophie Brooks, it is the tale of Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman), who are headed upstate for a romantic weekend away. Their rapport is playful and intimate, but slowly we realize this is also a new relationship; they're learning about one another, still trying to impress one another, still unable to keep their hands off one another. They're still figuring each other out, and it's sweet. It's all very lovely until they decide to get kinky in the bedroom. One of them makes a confession, and things take an unexpected turn. I don't want to spoil what happens next, but I will say that after some panicking, Iris has to call her best friend, Max (the always delightful Geraldine Viswanathan), and Max's boyfriend, Kenny (John Reynolds), for help, and everyone tries to solve the problem they've inadvertently created in ways that only get comically worse. The first half-hour or so of 'Oh, Hi!' is genuinely charming, mostly because Gordon (who has a story credit on the film) and Lerman seem like they're having a lot of fun with one another: drinking wine, cooking, swimming in the lake and watching fireflies on the back deck. There's a whole subgenre of low-budget independent films shot in houses just north of New York City — usually horror or comedy, or both — and they tend to be lovely to watch, not just because the surroundings are beautiful. Perhaps actors just relax in that setting, or maybe it's the vacation-like location. In any case, I wanted to go rent a car and join them. But by the midpoint, the plot starts to drag, feeling repetitive. It's sort of baked into the setup: There's a stuckness to the whole premise. This is fundamentally a film about how a relationship built on mismatched expectations is probably never going to work, and about how easy it is to have those mismatched expectations in today's dating landscape. It's not necessarily that some golden age of courtship and monogamy and marriage was better for everyone involved; it's just that introducing casual relationships and situationships and all kinds of relational configurations into the socially acceptable mix means those who don't communicate are pretty much doomed from the start. That's the gist of the film, and that's where it lands, but it spins its wheels for a while getting there. So to the degree it works — and it does, a lot of the time — it's a testament to its performers, especially Gordon and, once she arrives on the scene, Viswanathan, both of whom bring an energy to the screen that always has a touch of mischief, like they could veer off into lunacy or ecstasy at any time. Give either of them the right script and enough space to play in, and they're just fantastically fun to watch. Gordon, as the film's true protagonist, gets to ripple through her full range, and if by the end we're a little exhausted, she seems like she is, too, in a way that feels cathartic. The course of true love is never, ever going to run smooth. Oh, Hi!Rated R for sex, kink, nudity and language, plus some possible danger. Running time: 1 hour 34 minutes. In theaters.
Associated Press
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Movie Review: A dark comedy about modern dating in sharp, (knowingly) silly ‘Oh, Hi!'
The modern dating scene is not a healthy one. Perhaps it never really was and everyone is nostalgic for something that didn't exist. But you don't need to be on the apps to sense the anxiety around. Just open the New York Times Magazine site and scroll through the 1,200 comments on Jean Garnett's 'The Trouble With Wanting Men,' in which she examines unfulfilled desire and the idea of 'heterofatalism.' We wonder what happened to the romantic comedy. Maybe we're all to blame. How can we have fun with stories about romance when it is so bleak out there? But thank goodness for the filmmakers who are trying to, if not make sense of it all, talk about it. Celine Song did it in her own way with 'Materialists.' And now comes Sophie Brooks' 'Oh, Hi!' about a new-ish couple on their first weekend away together. These movies are not at all similar, and yet both speak to the current mood in valuable ways. In 'Oh, Hi!' Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman) seem to be very much in sync as a pair, singing in the car together, laughing about a little accident that results in the purchase of hundreds of strawberries and excitedly exploring the very nice house they've rented for this romantic getaway. The chemistry is there: There's humor, wit, conversation and attraction. They're even on the same page on more intimate matters. It is a terrific opening — nothing is really happening, and yet it's pleasant to just be in the moment with them. But then things take a turn. We know they're headed south from the first frame, when a distraught Iris greets her friend Max (Geraldine Viswanathan) at the country home late one night. We're trained to expect that it's all leading to a fight, or a breakup. 'Oh, Hi!,' however, has other things up its sleeve. Note to new couples: Best not to define a relationship while one is chained to the bed after a bit of experimentation. Granted, neither thought they needed to have this conversation, but it quickly becomes clear that they both heard things differently. Iris thought they were exclusive. Isaac thought it was perfectly clear that they weren't and aren't. But why, Iris asks, are they doing this at all after four months? Why are they on this trip? Why did he make her scallops? It's enough to make anyone go a little mad, which Iris does, deciding that she's going to keep Isaac chained up until they talk it through to her satisfaction. It's a kind of over-the-top, 'Misery'-styled meditation on entrenched gender cliches in heterosexual dating. The women are crazy and needy. The men are jerks and aloof. And no amount of rational discussion on either side will end the stalemate. Iris believes that if he just gets to know her a little better, perhaps he'll change his mind. She goes long on her biography in a funny little sequence, but the monologuing doesn't help Isaac figure out how to escape. It just goes on. 'Oh, Hi!' follows this path to extreme ends as Iris involves Max and her boyfriend Kenny (John Reynolds), who are all trying to figure out how to get out of the situation without going to jail. It's admirable how ardently they commit to making this outlandish premise as realistic as possible. The film loses the plot a bit when Max and Kenny get involved and things get extra silly. It might have been better had it stayed with Iris and Isaac to the bitter end. Gordon, who co-wrote the story with Brooks, is a huge reason it works at all. She somehow keeps Iris grounded and relatable throughout, which is no small feat after she makes her big mistake. At times, that epic misstep made me think that 'Oh, Hi!' might be the female 'Friendship.' And while Lerman gets substantially less to do, you come out feeling for both characters, trapped in anxieties of their own making and a social structure in which neither romance nor commitment seems to be a priority. At least this film lets us laugh about it a little bit. And lest you think people in relationships have it easier, just wait until 'Together' arrives next week. 'Oh, Hi!' a Sony Pictures Classics release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for 'language, sexual content and some nudity.' Running time: 94 minutes. Three stars out of four.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘It feels like I've won the Medal of Freedom': Molly Gordon loves being part of the Emmy-nominated ‘The Bear'
Even if Molly Gordon wasn't a recurring star on The Bear, she'd be rooting for the much-lauded FX series to win all of the 13 Emmys it's up for this year. "It was my favorite show before I was on it," the actress tells Gold Derby while promoting the release of her upcoming film, Oh, Hi! Her cinematic partners — costar Logan Lerman and director Sophie Brooks — are in full agreement. Speaking with us ahead of the movie's July 25 theatrical release, all three offer a hearty "Yes, chef!" when asked if they're excited for The Bear's third bite at the Emmy apple. (For the record, we spoke with them before Emmy nominations were officially unveiled, but our odds were clearly in the show's favor.) More from Gold Derby Anne Hathaway reveals first-look photo from 'The Devil Wears Prada 2': Everything to know about anticipated sequel Marvel's big reset: Mahershala Ali's 'Blade,' recasting 'X-Men' and Tony Stark, and why Miles Morales is MIA in the MCU "Awards are so exciting and are such a great way to celebrate everyone's hard work, and the crew that's worked so hard," says Gordon, who joined the cast in Season 2 as Claire Dunlap, aka "Claire Bear" — the girl that Jeremy Allen White's Carmy fell for in his childhood and again in his adulthood. "But this show specifically is such a rare experience where the cast, crew and city has been the loveliest experience ever that no award or nomination will ever [equal]," adds Gordon, who hasn't yet been nominated for her role. "It feels like I've won the Medal of Freedom getting to be a part of that show." The Bear doesn't have a Medal of Freedom in its trophy cabinet — and even if it did, it would probably get lost amidst all the Emmys. The show's first season cleaned up at the 2023 awards, taking home a record 10 statuettes for a comedy series, including Best Actor for White, Best Supporting Actor for Ebon-Moss Bacharach, Best Supporting Actress for Ayo Edebiri and Best Comedy Series. The Bear topped its own record the following year with 11 wins, although it saw the "best in show" prize go to Hacks. The Bear is back in contention for Best Comedy Series at this year's Emmys, although this time around it faces competition from both Hacks and the breakout Apple TV+ hit, The Studio. Still Brooks isn't about to bet against her friend's series. "That show kind of seems to sweep all the time, so I think they're in a good spot," the filmmaker notes. In a potential boon for The Bear's chances, Season 4 is currently airing at the same time that Emmy voters are weighing whether or not to cast their ballots for Season 3. But some people are waiting to go into binge mode on the fresh batch of episodes, including Lerman. "I haven't seen the new season yet," the actor confesses. But don't take that as a sign that he's giving up his seat at the show's table. "It's such a good show," Lerman emphasizes. "They don't need any help getting on peoples' radars; they've already earned their status, and I'm sure they'll get the recognition they deserve." Best of Gold Derby 'Five new life forms from distant planets': Everything to know about 'Alien: Earth' as new trailer drops Everything to know about 'The Pitt' Season 2, including the departure of Tracy Ifeachor's Dr. Collins Everything to know about 'Too Much,' Lena Dunham's Netflix TV show starring Megan Stalter that's kinda, sorta 'based on a true story' Click here to read the full article. Solve the daily Crossword
