Oh, Hi!

The very first scene of Oh, Hi! announces the shape the story will take. Iris (Molly Gordon) has beckoned Max (Geraldine Viswanathan) to the vacation home she's sharing with her boyfriend Isaac (Logan Lerman) for the weekend. Both women are in disbelief about an unnamed "bad thing" that Iris has done to Isaac. The scene lasts just a minute or two before a title card rewinds time by 33 hours, at which time they're a charming, happy couple sharing a long drive. So we know that things are going to get very dark, very fast.

Except...they don't. Oh sure, things get fucked up long before Iris calls Max. But director Sophie Brooks takes her time getting there. She wants to ensure we know that Iris and Isaac make a wonderful couple, with complementary yet distinct personalities. They have tremendous chemistry both in and out of the bedroom, aided by the real-world chemistry between the actors. In fact, the whole first act is made to feel like a traditional romcom. As charming as it is, you're at no risk of wishing for it to be the whole movie. Partially because its humor is mediocre, and partially because it's so preoccupied with setting up what's to come (including my favorite: Chekov's David Cross). That's what makes it so strange: it already told us that things are going to take a turn, so why is it trying to fool us? It calls to mind Fresh from a few years back, except that film just jumps straight into a perfect imitation of a romcom. So when it takes a sharp right turn into horror at the end of the first act, you're genuinely shocked and unmoored. Here, you're just tapping your watch, waiting for what was telegraphed to actually happen.

Read my full review on Pop Culture Maniacs.