After an unexpectedly wild night out, Connor (Jonah Hauer-King) winds up in bed with two women, Olivia (Zoey Deutsch) and Jenny (Ruby Cruz), and both of them wind up pregnant. Going by its premise and title, it would be easy to mistake Chad Hartigan’s The Threesome for a corny rom-com from the early 2000s. Fortunately, what the film, written by Ethan Ogilby, has in store for audiences is far smarter and more sensitive.
The trio’s messy situation is further complicated by the fact that Connor isn’t actually in a relationship with either Olivia or Jenny. He has wanted to be with Olivia for years, but he now also wants to do right by Jenny. So we follow the three of them as they try to navigate the whole crazy situation toward something resembling a happy ending.
Olivia might be the main love interest in The Threesome, but Jenny is no less fleshed out as a character, with both presented in equally empathetic terms. Both of them share a strong but distinctly different chemistry with Connor, which is exactly what you want from a film about a love triangle—the sense that both are reacting to a different part of the person in the middle, and that both possible couplings offer a glimpse of a potentially happy future.
The main instigator of the titular three-way, Olivia is described as someone who “really knows how to get what she wants.” Acid-tongued and adorable in equal measure, she has a witty reply or a clever bit ready for every possible encounter, wrapping herself in layers of irony that make getting at the real her an almost impossible task. Which would probably drive people away if the replies weren’t so witty, and delivered with such a luminous smile. A decent guy with a pair of puppy-dog eyes and romantic outlook, Connor really doesn’t stand a chance.
Jenny is younger than the other two, a college student who still lives in her parents’ home. But she’s also forthright and firm about her beliefs. In some ways, she seems like a more solid person than Olivia and Connor, both of whom have had years of bad relationships to muddy their sense of self. And while her humor is a little softer than Olivia’s, she’s also extremely funny.
The Threesome doesn’t lack for quickfire gags, snappy and agreeably self-conscious observations about dating (“Pining might seem romantic, but it’s just a short walk from there to creepy”), and moments of surprising tenderness. And while it’s a sexed-up comedy with a fairly goofy starting point, the film takes a very level-headed look at its subject matter, from the practical realities of abortion to the ethical objections some people have to them.
Which is to say, the film winningly melds its sadcom properties with more predictable rom-com traditions, like giving Connor a sassy gay best friend (Jaboukie Young-White) who threatens to steal every scene. Sing Howe Yam’s softly lit, smartly composed photography makes the film feel warm and welcoming even in its thornier moments, like when its characters are talking about abortions while sitting at a desolate fast-food joint. For working so well within the rom-com framework while also saying something insightful about modern-day romance, The Threesome might be the perfect movie for those who had their hearts broken by Materialists.
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