Directed By Chad Hartigan

Starring – Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King, Ruby Cruz

The Plot – A young man’s (Hauer-King) 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.

Rated R for sexual material, adult language and brief drug use

The Threesome | Official Trailer (HD) | Vertical

POSITIVES

From an outsiders perspective, there’s plenty of common misconceptions about love triangles that almost immediately begin and end with the pleasantries of multiple sexual partners. However, Hartigan’s feature length directorial debut examines the earth-shattering complexities of such an unconventional situation, depicting a sobering reality that is anything but ideal, particularly once the inebriation wears off, and this trio is left to face the fears and realities of some irresponsible decisions. This is realized in some thorough characterization within the pocketed dynamics of these three people, not only in the versatility of personalities between Olivia and Jenny, who couldn’t be any more polarly opposite, with the former eliciting an assertive dominance and imposing stature amongst her cohorts, and the latter beaming a sweet sincerity and gentility to her distinguished characteristics, but also in the essence of the chemistry that they each share with Connor, with one obviously cloaked much deeper in the emotional significance of his history, in order to appraise meaningful stakes towards an orchestration that definitely didn’t play out anywhere near the exact ways that I was expecting for such a familiar idea. On the surface level, the film feels like it could’ve been one that Judd Apatow wrote before his career struck gold with “Knocked Up”, but in digging deeper, the script from Ethan Ogilby conjures an abundance of unforeseen twists and materializing impacts that constantly breathe an accessibly tender and vulnerable approach to such R-rated material, but also encompasses these vital moments in a satisfying combination of comedic and dramatic underlining that work effectively well with one another, mirroring the roller-coaster that its characters are forced to endure, as a result of their own miscalculations within one another. The comedy is honestly 50/50, with regards to its landing consistency, but a third act delve into dramatic territory reasserts its dominance over the control of the audience, in turn resulting in an elevated climax that has the ability to build you up with inspiration or tear you down with the longing and regret of its characters, depending on where you stand with either of the intertwined couples. On top of this, the cinematography here from Sing Howe Yam subscribes brilliantly to the simplicities and sensibilities of romantic comedies of the past, with intimately warm and creatively intricate framing colliding candidly with glowing color schemes, to prescribe earnestness and optimism to each side of the dynamic, in ways that have the ability to sneak up on you. Because I was so invested in the developments of the storytelling, I nearly overlooked what Yam is able to insightfully render with mirrors or first person perspectives, and while the movie doesn’t become overexerted with its artistry, each shot feels like it plays a pivotal role towards internalizing the suppressed feelings of its characters, allowing us the single greatest expulsion of their various psychologies, without the exposition deliberately spelling it out for us. Speaking of that exposition, I found the dialogue beneficial, in that the conversations felt very relaxed and natural between its characters, without the obviousness of intended plot points that frequently compromise audience immersion into a particular scene or sequence. Most of the reason for this is in the natural chemistry between its leads that really does articulate three people coming to grips with so many newfound developments, but the structure of the dialogue also has an advantageous manner of staying one step behind the audience at all times, in order to inspire and invest them into figuring out bombshell deliveries, long before the receiving party has a chance to, offering ample opportunity to practically spout out loud what is coming, regardless if you realize you are doing it or not. Last but not least, I want to give limitless praises to each of the decorated trio at the forefront of the movie’s performances, as each of them are dialed into the depths of their characters, with three-dimensional personality and charisma that help to override some of their downright stupid decisions. Fresh off a forgettable turn in the live action rendering of “The Little Mermaid”, Jonah Hauer-King redeems himself with sensitivity and sincerity that are dangerous to female audiences, and when coupled with Zoey Deutch continuously threading the needle to a memorably complex turn that is every bit cleverly sharp with sensuality as she is unrelenting with brash contempt for those surrounding her, as well as Ruby Cruz commanding the kind of genuine compassion and empathy that makes Jenny a polar opposite from Olivia, it’s an utter delight to see them navigate the pitfalls of life’s spontaneities, breathing life into their characters in ways that feel relatable, even while fielding disasters that anyone could smell coming from a mile away.

NEGATIVES

There’s plenty to “The Threesome” that brought it a step above most romantic comedies that I’m unfortunately saddled with, year to year, but still some detracting hinderances that took my finished grade down a step or two from where it started, particularly with its abundance of tropes and cliches from the subgenre that constantly persist, even in a story with a fresh concept to its creativity. Such examples this time around lend themself not only to the gay best friend spouting saucy retorts to the trio’s actions, not only to a string of meandering compositions from Keegan DeWitt that instrumentally spell out everything emotionally that you’re supposed to feel in every moment, but also characters tiptoeing around the truth in ways that unnaturally evoke conflict to situational humor practically cloaked in it, and while I can say that I was thoroughly entertained for at least the first half of the movie’s engagement, these unflattering aspects and some underwhelming direction for the characters during the second half, wore on my patience a bit longer than expected, making the 107-minute runtime feel every bit of two hours for some of its plodding progression in the imbalance between depicted dynamics. For my money, I wish the script spent a little more time fleshing out the emerging synergy between Jenny and Connor to balance that of Connor’s overwhelming feelings for Olivia, as doing so would’ve not only would’ve made the movie’s resolution all the more difficult to properly register, but also allow Connor the opportunity to see Jenny for who she truly is outside of the sexual expectations that he initially had for the character, an aspect that the script attempts to delve right into, but doesn’t come close towards materializing anything to the chemistry that Olivia shares with Connor, and that’s saying something considering there were moments when I downright loathed the character of Olivia, for her way to cope with disappointment. Finally, even the movie’s ending left slightly more to be desired with satisfying pay-offs, particularly in the way it abandons dramatic uncertainty for a resolution that is as neatly tidy and unconfrontational as anything that I’ve seen in 2025. When you look at a romantic comedy such as “Chasing Amy”, you consider that a climactic decision by its central protagonist not only cost him the love of a great woman, but also the admiration and respect from his best friend, and here no such devastating impact is landed, despite so much possibility from a set-up involving the futures of three characters, leading to an ending that feels like the safest method to send audiences home happy, even at the cost of the kind of honesty and transparency that made it such an entertaining engagement in the first place.

OVERALL
“The Threesome” proves emphatically that two might be company, but three is a crowd, while articulating the messiness of life’s everyday unpredictability with enough stirring laughter and sensually stirring stylistic choices to fall head over heels for Hartigan’s debut effort. Despite an abundance of cliches that nearly compromises what creative integrity that it has for itself, as well as a rushed and unsatisfying resolution, the film finds unflinching realism in the authentic and affectionate moments involving longing, love, and regret, between its characters, enacting a menage a trois of meaningful performances that steal your heart in ways you never saw coming.

My Grade: 7.1 or C+