Spoiler alert: The following article discusses the entirety of The Threesome.
From Oh, Hi to Materialists, there’s no shortage of recently released small-to-mid-budget movies excoriating the trials and tribulations of what the modern dating landscape looks like for young people. But where these movies lean into effective satire, Chad Hartigan’s The Threesome blends comedic beats with delicate vulnerability — a moving combination that feels as true to life as messing up in one’s young adulthood.
It’s a winning balance star Jonah Hauer-King credits to scribe Ethan Ogilby, who makes his feature screenwriting debut.
“[The script] constantly was dealing with that balance of knowing when to have those comedic moments and knowing when to show these people being very vulnerable and very tender; those two things also are not mutually exclusive,” Hauer-King told Deadline. “A lot of the time the comedy was found in the fact that these people were being vulnerable and open with [each other] … I think every step of the way, even when the mistakes are being made, and they are flawed people, not least [my character] Connor, I think there is nothing mean-spirited. It feels like people are trying to do the right thing and trying to learn from their mistakes, and it feels big-hearted, the film. I think it does feel tender, and it does feel sensitive.”
In The Threesome, Connor, a soft-spoken sound engineer, is stuck on Zoey Deutch’s Olivia, a free-spirited and charismatic waitress who flits from commitment. As Connor’s best friend Greg (Jaboukie Young-White) encourages him to move on and chat up a charming, recently stood up restaurant patron, Jenny (Ruby Cruz), Olivia enviously intrudes. But after a night out clubbing and drinking, Connor — expecting to rekindle a romance with Olivia — acquiesces to her suggestion of a threesome, a decision that inevitably alters the course of their lives.
Speaking to how the trio cultivated their joint chemistry, Hauer-King noted, “We just had a week of being in each other’s company. Ultimately, it just came very easy. I think, off screen, we all felt very comfortable with each other and had an instant connection.”
Cruz added that the welcoming set and Hartigan were a “gift.” She said, “There was never a moment where I felt like I couldn’t be myself, and I just felt so comfortable on this set, which, for me, is rare — I just can tend to get in my head or whatever. And I think with both [Zoey and Jonah], I always felt so safe and comfortable, and [they] are so funny and talented, it felt like [there] was so much freedom … to explore and try things.”
Deutch — who also executive produced the project — pointed to the “great initial luxury” of a “really good script” and “great captain of our ship” in Hartigan, as well as the occasional kismet that strikes when fortune is on one’s side during the moviemaking process.
“There is a bit of luck that comes into casting and all connecting and having chemistry,” the actress said. “And I feel very grateful that I got to make this movie with them. It would be impossible to not fall in love with both of them, personally and professionally, they are fabulous and gorgeous inside and out, so I’m glad that you felt that the characters felt lived in and authentic, and that was definitely what we were going for.”
While the film’s groundedness shines through in its lead performances, it also succeeds due to its subversion of expected narrative tropes. As Cruz points out, there is a “clear formula” for the rom-com — the climactic, explosive fight and inevitable “happily ever after” resolution (“with a crane-shot at the end,” Deutch adds).
But here, there are twists and turns aplenty, as each character messily stumbles through impulsive decisions and their resulting fallouts. Though Connor used a condom during the ménage à trois, he neglected to do so when sleeping with Jenny in the morning after Olivia had hurriedly left, and the pregnancy that results isn’t revealed until Connor and Olivia are in the honeymoon phase of their budding relationship. Oh, and Olivia is pregnant, too.
Hauer-King and Deutch in ‘The Threesome’ (Vertical)
“Once I read it, it was so surprising, and it challenges the rom-com genre in so many ways and really grounds the characters. And you just watch these people figure out what happens next after an FMF threeway ends up with both girls pregnant,” Cruz said.
As influences, the cast mentions Broadcast News — another romantic dramedy featuring a love triangle — as one Hartigan singled out.
“I really loved it,” Young-White remembered. “I loved how adult it felt, like it just felt so mature, the way that it was handled and realistic in a way that got me really excited for shooting.”
Other points of inspiration include sleeper-hit-turned-cult-classic (500) Days of Summer, a visual reference for cinematographer Sing Howe Yam, and My Best Friend’s Wedding, a Julia Roberts classic and late-90s entry into the love triangle cinematic canon.
“This plays into and subverts so many of the preconceived genre conventions, and then also our real-life conventions about romance and love and what it means to be in a relationship with other people,” Young-White said. “[Our generation is] at a time where we know that tradition doesn’t work for us, and we don’t want to be bound by that, but we also want the structure of tradition, and we don’t want to have to architect our lives piece-by-piece-by-piece-by-piece.”
Olivia, concerned with how people will view her relationship with Connor as Jenny decides to keep her baby, backs out of the relationship and returns to her destructive affair with a married man named Kevin (Josh Segarra). Aiming to get an abortion — for which she must travel outside Little Rock, Arkansas — she changes her mind at the last minute, hilariously quipping, “Does this make me a Republican?”
Deutch, who has worked with Planned Parenthood for over a decade, emphasized the importance of collaborating with the nonprofit organization to ensure the abortion storyline was handled with nuance and care.
“Especially, like you said, at this time, in July, when [Donald] Trump and his backers have defunded Planned Parenthood, which puts over a million people’s reproductive care and healthcare at risk in over 200 clinics in this country, it’s obviously a conversation and a topic that always deserves to be handled with immense care,” she said.
The Nouvelle Vague star continued, “I had the fortune of being able to reach out to them, to consult and read the script, give notes, make sure it felt like an accurate depiction and also a respectful depiction of both the clinic and the experience. So it was really wonderful to have both their support and guidance and information on exactly what the options would be. And though subtle it is, the plot line is an accurate depiction of the fact that women have to leave their homes to get that kind of care. They have to leave their state to get that kind of care, and that is what this character has to do. And despite it not being maybe the choice that she decides to make, she has the support, and it is her choice.”
As Olivia and Connor’s relationship crumbles, the latter attempts to be more present with Jenny, whose religious parents believe them to be a real couple. With Connor perpetually (and sheepishly) at the center of the entire fiasco, Greg is quick to offer support — with some healthy ribbing mixed in.
Young-White in ‘The Threesome’ (Vertical)
Young-White jokes he felt drawn to his character, who serves as both an audience stand-in and guide for all things gossip: “I really identified with that, because I often find myself being on the outside wanting tea in my personal life: Gay or straight, I’m OK with all kinds of tea. I think bringing that to the role was fun, but then also it comes from a place of him genuinely caring about Connor, and them just having such a long-standing relationship that he’s like, ‘Listen, you were being stupid. So I’m gonna make this hell for you a little bit, because you need to remember that you were a little dumb, and you need to be better next time.’”
While Connor is navigating his increasing discomfort about lying to Jenny’s parents, Olivia’s jealousy mounts when she sees a photo of the two of them at a surprise baby shower. Through the underlying tension, the women serve as foils to one another, striving for similar ideals and taking care to not view each other as stock villains.
Naturally, the two go into labor simultaneously, and it’s here where the final shoes (and water) drops: Jenny’s parents find out the truth, leading to a physical altercation between her father and Connor. And, as Olivia had been irregularly taking her birth control and Kevin had lied about his vasectomy, it turns out the baby is actually not Connor’s. Reeling from the revelation, Connor goes to witness his biological daughter’s birth. Afterward, Olivia tearfully shares a moment of reconciliation with Jenny.
Of the camaraderie that develops between the two women, Deutch indicated “there were some changes made” to the scenes in the hospital and doctor’s office, respectively, where, despite Olivia and Jenny’s complex feelings toward one another, their mutual understanding shines through.
“I felt very protective of not wanting it to feel like my character was entirely blaming the other woman, while also still having complicated feelings about it. I wanted it to feel like there was resolve between them at the end, and that they both could see each other,” she explained.
Cruz adds that it was a vital moment of acknowledgement after their mutual births to “show the tenderness” between the two. “It was nice to have passed all the noise for them to finally connect in the calm,” she said.
In a strong indie box office weekend, The Threesome has been holding its own, helped by positive critic reviews from SXSW, where it premiered back in March. Since then, the quietly confident movie — initially toplined by Logan Lerman and Phoebe Dynevor prior to the dual strikes — was acquired by Vertical and has debuted to $592K on 402 screens.
“I just think that the genre in general is something magical and fun, and I think it will always be around, like we will always want to watch people fall in love or out of love,” Young-White said of romantic comedies, adding that he hopes audiences leave theaters “asking themselves questions about what they really want in their own lives, and how much is narrative, and how much is a personal choice, especially when it comes to building what the rest of your life is going to look like. That can be a really weighty question, and I think that this film kind of gently starts that conversation.”
