Somebody I Used to Know

Last updated

Somebody I Used to Know
SomebodyIUsedToKnowFilm.jpg
Official release poster
Directed by Dave Franco
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyBrian Lannin
Edited byErnie Gilbert
Music by
  • Danny Bensi
  • Saunder Jurriaans
Production
companies
Distributed by Amazon Prime Video
Release date
  • February 10, 2023 (2023-02-10)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Somebody I Used to Know is a 2023 American romantic comedy film directed by Dave Franco and co-written with his wife Alison Brie. The film stars Brie, Jay Ellis, and Kiersey Clemons. It was released on Amazon Prime Video on February 10, 2023.

Contents

Plot

Ally is the showrunner of Dessert Island, a successful but waning reality TV series. After filming the season's final episode, she is informed that the show will be cancelled. With no social life outside of work, she decides to take a break and visit her mother in Leavenworth, Washington.

At a bar in her hometown, she runs into an ex-boyfriend, Sean. They spend the night drinking together, and kiss in the car when Sean takes her home. He refuses her invitation for sex, and she leaves awkwardly. Later that day, she visits Sean's house intending to apologize for the incident, but learns that he is getting married that weekend and his family is throwing a party. She tries to leave, but Sean's mother Jojo insists she attend the wedding to film it.

Ally learns that Sean's fiancée, Cassidy, is alienated from her parents. She feels suspicious about her, and gets her assistant, Kayla, to dig up information about Cassidy's family. Meanwhile, a streaming platform is interested to renew Dessert Island for another season and wants to meet with Ally.

Cassidy is uneasy about Ally's presence at wedding parties. She performs with her punk rock band at a bar, and later shares a table with Ally to talk about Sean. Cassidy tells Ally that she plans to stop touring with her band to settle down with Sean after marriage. Ally notices that she is unhappy about this.

Kayla finds information about Cassidy's parents, and Ally asks her to send them an anonymous invitation to the wedding. When Ally and Cassidy spend more time with each other, Ally realizes her impression of her was mistaken. They bond over common interests, even ending up streaking together on a golf course after smoking cannabis. Sean is distracted by their growing closeness.

On the eve of the wedding, Cassidy is surprised to see her parents. Ally does not confess to inviting them, leading Cassidy to blame Sean for it and call off the wedding. At their hotel, Ally tries to correct her mistake by getting Sean and Cassidy to understand each other better. Sean realizes he is suppressing Cassidy's career and apologizes. Meanwhile, Ally takes the blame for inviting Cassidy's parents, and Cassidy reneges on cancelling the wedding.

Ally leaves the event permanently and returns to her mother's house, where they have a heart-to-heart about being one's true self. Ally leaves for Los Angeles, but makes a pact to visit more often. Dessert Island is picked up for another season, but Ally passes showrunning duties on to Kayla. She chooses to focus on her interests, picking up another show instead, which centers around the topic of nudism.

Cast

Production

In August 2021, it was announced that Alison Brie, Jay Ellis and Kiersey Clemons had joined the cast, with Dave Franco directing from a screenplay he wrote with Brie. Amazon Studios produced and distributed the film through Prime Video. [1] In September 2021, Julie Hagerty, Haley Joel Osment, Amy Sedaris, Danny Pudi, Zoë Chao, Evan Jonigkeit, Olga Merediz, Ayden Mayeri and Kelvin Yu joined the cast. [2] Franco said the film was inspired by romantic comedies of the 1980s and 1990s. [3]

Principal photography began in and around Portland, Oregon in September 2021. [4] [5] In August 2022, Brie said that post-production had wrapped and the film was finished. [6]

Release

The film was released on February 10, 2023. [7]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 69% of 88 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.0/10.The website's consensus reads: "While it might have been more satisfying with a sharper focus, Somebody I Used to Know is a funny, uniquely nuanced rom-com with some interesting things to say." [8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 57 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haley Joel Osment</span> American actor (born 1988)

Haley Joel Osment is an American actor. Beginning his career as a child actor, Osment's role in the comedy-drama film Forrest Gump (1994) won him a Young Artist Award. His breakthrough came with the psychological thriller film The Sixth Sense (1999), which won him a Saturn Award and earned him nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He achieved further success with the drama film Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction film A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) which won him a second Saturn Award, the comedy film Secondhand Lions (2003) which won him a Critics Choice Award, and the animated film The Jungle Book 2 (2003). He has voiced Sora in the Kingdom Hearts video game franchise since 2002, and voiced Vanitas in the same franchise from 2010 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ally Sheedy</span> American actress (born 1962)

Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy is an American actress. She made her feature film debut in Bad Boys (1983) and came to prominence as a member of the Brat Pack with roles in Oxford Blues (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), St. Elmo's Fire (1985), and Blue City (1986). She received three Saturn Award nominations for Best Actress for her performances in WarGames (1983), Fear (1990), and Man's Best Friend (1993). For playing a drug-addicted lesbian photographer in High Art (1998), Sheedy won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. She also starred in the films Twice in a Lifetime (1985), Short Circuit (1986), Betsy's Wedding (1990), Only the Lonely (1991), and Life During Wartime (2009), as well as the series Single Drunk Female (2022–2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brie Larson</span> American actress (born 1989)

Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers, known professionally as Brie Larson, is an American actress. Known for her supporting roles in comedies as a teenager, she has since expanded to leading roles in independent films and blockbusters. She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Hagerty</span> American actress

Julie Beth Hagerty is an American actress. She starred as Elaine Dickinson in the films Airplane! (1980) and Airplane II: The Sequel (1982). Her other film roles include A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982), Lost in America (1985), What About Bob? (1991), She’s the Man (2006), A Master Builder (2014), Instant Family (2018), Noelle, Marriage Story, and A Christmas Story Christmas (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Osment</span> American actress, singer and songwriter (born 1992)

Emily Jordan Osment is an American actress, singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Osment began her career as a child actress, appearing in numerous television shows and films, before co-starring as Gerti Giggles in Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003). She played Lilly Truscott on the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana (2006–2011) and its film spinoff Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Pudi</span> American actor

Daniel Mark Pudi is an American actor and director. His roles include Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015), for which he received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and one nomination for the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy. Since 2020 he has starred as Brad Bakshi in the Apple TV+ comedy series Mythic Quest. He was the voice of Huey Duck on the 2017 reboot of DuckTales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Franco</span> American actor (born 1985)

David John Franco is an American actor and filmmaker. He began his career with small roles in films such as Superbad (2007) and Charlie St. Cloud (2010). Following a starring role in the ninth season of the comedy series Scrubs, Franco had his film breakthrough as a supporting role in the buddy comedy film 21 Jump Street (2012).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alison Brie</span> American actress (born 1982)

Alison Brie Schermerhorn is an American actress. Her breakthrough came with the role of Trudy Campbell in the drama series Mad Men (2007–2015), which earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award. She gained recognition for her role as Annie Edison in the sitcom Community (2009–2015) and voicing Diane Nguyen in the animated comedy series BoJack Horseman (2014–2020). For playing Ruth Wilder in the comedy-drama series GLOW (2017–2019), she received nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and two Critics' Choice Awards.

"Introduction to Statistics" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community, airing on NBC on October 29, 2009. Annie hosts a Dia de los Muertos party, the success of which depends on Jeff attending. At the party, Pierce gets high, causing trouble for the other characters. Jeff pursues their statistics professor, Professor Michelle Slater. Finally, Shirley is distressed due to her ex-husband's behavior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiersey Clemons</span> American actress

Kiersey Nicole Clemons is an American actress. She is known for her role in the 2015 comedy-drama film Dope, playing Cassandra "Diggy" Andrews. Subsequently, she went on to co-star in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), Flatliners (2017), Hearts Beat Loud (2018), and played Iris West in both Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) and The Flash (2023).

<i>Cloud 9</i> (2014 film) American TV series or program

Cloud 9 is a 2014 American romantic sports drama television film directed by Paul Hoen and written by Justin Ware. It stars Dove Cameron, Luke Benward, Kiersey Clemons and Mike C. Manning. The film is set in the world of competitive snowboarding. The first promo aired on November 29, 2013 during the premiere of "Good Luck Jessie: NYC Christmas". The film premiered on January 17, 2014 as a Disney Channel Original Movie. It was viewed by 4.96 million viewers during its original premiere.

<i>Easy</i> (TV series) 2016 television series by Joe Swanberg

Easy is an American comedy-drama television anthology series written, directed, edited and produced by Joe Swanberg. It consists of 25 half-hour episodes. The series is set in Chicago.

<i>The Little Hours</i> 2017 American film

The Little Hours is a 2017 American medieval black comedy film written and directed by Jeff Baena. The film is loosely based on the first and second stories of day three of ten of The Decameron, a collection of novellas by Giovanni Boccaccio, a 14th-century Italian writer. It stars an ensemble cast featuring Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Micucci, Aubrey Plaza, John C. Reilly, and Molly Shannon.

<i>Flatliners</i> (2017 film) 2017 film by Niels Arden Oplev

Flatliners is a 2017 American science fiction psychological horror film directed by Niels Arden Oplev and written by Ben Ripley. A stand-alone sequel to and remake of the 1990 film of the same name, it stars Elliot Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, James Norton, and Kiersey Clemons. The story follows five medical students who attempt to conduct experiments that produce near-death experiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Baena</span> American screenwriter and film director

Jeff Baena is an American screenwriter and film director known for Life After Beth (2014), Joshy (2016), The Little Hours (2017), Horse Girl (2020), Spin Me Round (2022), and for co-writing I Heart Huckabees (2004). He is known for his frequent collaborations with actresses Alison Brie and his wife Aubrey Plaza.

<i>The Only Living Boy in New York</i> (film) 2017 American film

The Only Living Boy in New York is a 2017 American drama film directed by Marc Webb and written by Allan Loeb. The film stars Callum Turner, Kate Beckinsale, Pierce Brosnan, Cynthia Nixon, Kiersey Clemons, and Jeff Bridges. The film was released on August 11, 2017, by Roadside Attractions and Amazon Studios, receiving generally negative reviews.

<i>Sweetheart</i> (2019 film) 2019 American survival horror film directed by J.D. Dillard

Sweetheart is a 2019 American survival horror film directed by J. D. Dillard, written by Dillard, Alex Theurer and Alex Hyner, and starring Kiersey Clemons, Emory Cohen, Hanna Mangan-Lawrence and Andrew Crawford. It was produced by Jason Blum, Dillard, Theurer, Hyner and Bill Karesh. The movie tells the story of a castaway who washes up on an island and must survive there while being stalked by a humanoid sea monster.

<i>Hearts Beat Loud</i> 2018 American film

Hearts Beat Loud is a 2018 American comedy-drama music film directed by Brett Haley, from a screenplay by Haley and Marc Basch. It stars Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons, Ted Danson, Sasha Lane, Blythe Danner and Toni Collette, and follows a Brooklyn record store owner who tries to convince his daughter to start a band with him after a song they recorded goes viral.

<i>The Rental</i> Horror film

The Rental is a 2020 American horror film co-written, produced and directed by Dave Franco, in his feature directorial debut. Franco co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Swanberg from a story by Franco, Swanberg, and Mike Demski. It stars Dan Stevens, Alison Brie, Sheila Vand, Jeremy Allen White, and Toby Huss, and follows two couples who begin to suspect they are being watched in the house they rented.

Am I OK? is a 2022 American comedy-drama film directed by Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne and written by Lauren Pomerantz. It stars Dakota Johnson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jermaine Fowler, Kiersey Clemons, Molly Gordon, June Diane Raphael, Tig Notaro, and Sean Hayes.

References

  1. ↑ Kroll, Justin (August 30, 2021). "Dave Franco Sets 'Somebody I Used To Know' As Next Directing Job At Amazon; Alison Brie, Jay Ellis and Kiersey Clemons To Star". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on August 30, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  2. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (September 29, 2021). "Julie Hagerty, Haley Joel Osment, More Round Out Cast Of Dave Franco's 'Somebody I Used To Know' At Amazon". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  3. ↑ Bergeson, Samantha (January 12, 2023). "'Somebody I Used to Know' Trailer: Alison Brie Still Loves Her Ex in Dave Franco Rom-Com". IndieWire . Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  4. ↑ Turnquist, Kristi (September 29, 2021). "Filming in Oregon: Alison Brie stars in a romantic comedy, and a 'Buffy'-like chiller is coming to Peacock". Oregon Live . Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  5. ↑ Rice, Nicholas (October 7, 2021). "Community Reunion! Alison Brie Poses with Danny Pudi on Set of New Film: 'Feels Like Home'". People . Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  6. ↑ Mahler, Matthew (August 17, 2022). "Alison Brie Gives Update on New Movie With Husband Dave Franco". MovieWeb . Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  7. ↑ Juneau, Jen (January 12, 2023). "See the Trailer for Alison Brie and Husband Dave Franco's Rom-Com 'Somebody I Used to Know'". People. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Somebody I Used To Know". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Somebody I Used to Know". Metacritic . Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.