The Overnight (2015)

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Two married couples, one new to Los Angeles, meet for dinner on a night that leads them into a marital and sexual quandary. At first, the newcomers (Adam Scott and Taylor Schilling) enjoy letting their hair down, but after their hosts (Jason Schwartzman and Judith Godrèche) cross the line of social norms a few times, they begin to wonder where the shenanigans are headed. I would call The Overnight more of a light-hearted drama than an outright comedy. The cast is plenty charming and the scenario indeed grows more and more incredulous, complete with giant paintings of assholes and an explicit breast-pumping tutorial.

But writer/director Patrick Brice also takes this opportunity to say something serious about inhibition. To say the film gets uncomfortable is an understatement. I believe, for example, this is the only film I’ve ever seen that addresses ‘small penis anxiety’ at all seriously. The tone of the film gets muddy and the script unfortunately pulls its punches toward the end. (You’ll also have to forgive some terribly unconvincing merkins.) Brice deserves credit, however, for a film that engages in some good old-fashioned boundary pushing.

Your move, monogamy and hetero-normativity.

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