Oh, Hi! – The Most Original Film of the Year!

This film has mixed reviews and probably won't be in theaters after this weekend.  It only received a 65% Rotten Tomatoes rating, which I interpret to mean that 35% of the audience didn't "get it."  The movie is written and directed by Sophie Brooks.  This is her second film and I predict great things for her.  This movie has depth, is at times hilarious, and has an important message.  So far, it's my favorite film of 2025.  Furthermore, Molly Gordon is phenomenal!  I haven't seen a belter performance by a lead actress this year.  If she isn't nominated for an AA "Best Female Actor in a Leading Role," it's an outrage!  She also is in the Hulu show "The Bear," and she's terrific in that show too.  (I think she'd be a great lead actress if there's another season of "The White Lotus!") Iris (Molly) and Isaac (Logan Lerman) are off together for a romantic weekend.  They've been dating for about three months and this is their first weekend together.  They are having a great time on the drive up to their countryside destination, singing Dolly Parton's cover version of the melodic Bee Gees song "Islands in the Stream."  When they arrive at the scenic lakeside house, they start off by having some very hot sex.  Soon after, they go down by the lake to swim and make out.  This is the kind of romantic weekend we all dream about.  Later that day, while on the bed after some BDSM sex, Molly starts talking to Isaac about how she feels about him, when "in the wink of an eye, their weekend goes awry."  (Just call me "Rhymin' Simon!") I can't say any more about the plot or I'll spoil it for you, but it gets very intense and suspenseful.  (This is one of the most creative and unique plots I've seen in a long time!)  At certain moments, the film is outrageously funny, especially the counterpoint between what is happening and the dialogue.  The movie is a metaphor about how difficult it is to communicate and be vulnerable on an intimate level and how our unconscious conflicts – and inability to work them through – keeps us in bondage (repeating unsuccessful relationship patterns again and again, causing both chronic terror and hopelessness).  However, the fortunate ones, by some miracle, "break on thru through to the other side" (like the late, great Jim Morrison)! If you don't have the time to spend a weekend in Ojai, go see "Oh, Hi!" instead.