Director: Chad Hartigan
Writer: Ethan Ogilby
Stars: Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King, Ruby Cruz
Synopsis: A young man’s perennial crush leads him into an unexpected threesome, he thinks it’s his ultimate fantasy come true. When the fantasy ends, all three are left with sobering real-world consequences, to take responsibility for their actions.
Chad Hartigan’s The Threesome is able to perform a magic trick of structure. Despite the narrative being fairly straightforward, the situations the characters find themselves in end up increasingly complex. It’s not hard to follow, or even thematically over-complicated. It’s all just a mess for the characters, but not the audience.
It’s almost as if Hartigan and writer Ethan Ogilby designed a palatable cringe comedy. When an awkward situation happens, they let it drag out, but soften the blow with situational comedy and charming jokes. Another awkward situation is added to further complicate things, and the blow is lightly applied. It could have all gone too heavy towards a Tim Robinson-esque set of preposterous circumstances where the audience wants to leave, but instead, it’s all well-balanced and light-hearted.
Jonah Hauer-King stars as Connor, a lovesick 30-year-old pining over Olivia (Zoey Deutch). While they once had a drunken hookup, Connor has always wanted a relationship. While flirting with a woman named Jenny (Ruby Cruz), the three go out on the town and end up in bed together. While Jenny departs, Olivia and Connor begin dating. It turns out Olivia became pregnant from the threesome. Undeterred, Olivia and Connor decide to have the baby and commit deeper into their relationship.
Jenny reemerges with the news that she, too, is pregnant. Jenny’s desire to maintain her pregnancy causes Olivia to change gears on her own choice and to also break up with Connor. With the shifting decisions and dynamics, the three must navigate whatever reality they decide to deal with from moment to moment as things become ever-increasingly complicated.
While it all maintains a lightness to the narrative, this is not a finger-wagging notion on the consequences of sexual freedom. In fact, the titular act is never seen as anything but a fun time had by the three characters, without any regret for the act ever being shown. The filmmakers display a complete lack of judgement for any of the character’s actions, even if they behave poorly. Reasoning for keeping, or wanting to terminate a pregnancy, are never judged by the film, even if another character directly expresses their own misgivings.
There’s a level of maturity in the filmmaking, despite the innate immaturity of these characters. All the main characters are in the late-20s or mid-30s, but handle these very adult situations as best they can without assuming they have any idea what they are doing. They involve parents and friends, and adapt to each situation with emotion and understanding. Despite having a lack of pronounced depth with Connor, Olivia, or Jenny, they all feel like real people instead of archetypes. The fleshing out of these characters, as well as the performances, give the film real life.
Deutch might be the “main” character (and the most famous of the three actors), but she doesn’t attempt to pull focus when the story asks her to take a backseat. She adds layers of self-awareness, confusion, and sexiness to the character that is written a bit thin. Cruz also doesn’t have much on paper to chew on, but she is a mesmerizing screen presence. Not exactly a shy butterfly, but by no means an outgoing person, Cruz imbues Jenny with innocence and self-respect that her situation would usually rob her of.
Hauer-King gets to mostly be exasperated, trying to make sense of his increasingly difficult circumstances. His quieter moments near the film’s climax give him some narrative bone to chew on, while his general likeability is key to the film’s success. He also has ample chemistry with both actresses. Josh Segarra adds to the mix as an on-again-off-again flame of Olivia’s, who is a marked difference from the characters Segarra usually portrays. Jaboukie Young-White stokes the fires of chaos as Connor’s gay best friend.
If you’re looking for a film about modern romance with a spin on the cringe-comedy formula, The Threesome is for you. Even if that isn’t your cup of tea, the three charming performances from the titular trio is worth the price of admission.
