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People may say relationships are all about honesty, but let’s be real in the modern dating world, all a relationship ends up being is two people trying to figure out what the actual hell the other person really thinks of you. Honestly is rarely in the dating pool game, even if you are not a liar you still hold back quite a deal in fear of getting hurt or allowing someone to know your true self and realizing that they do not need you as much as you need them. But even before all the truth comes out there is a small period in time where you believe the world is your oyster. OH, HI! directed by Sophie Brooks wants to take on the modern dating world or as the kids call it today the “situationship.” An awkward yet socially acceptable period where neither of you have any concern on labeling something, or at least that’s what it is there to hide. Years ago they would just call it “friends with benefits.” You meet someone nice, hook up for a while and eventually fizzle out with no fears of having to bump into each other again. But with today’s Gen Z era of being terrified of sex in both their media and possibly real life the “situationship” appears to be a blanket to not have to label yourself as being a friend with a benefit, but rather just not certain, even though one of you must likely knows exactly what you want. OH, HI! challenges this premise with great intimacy and connection all before diving into an absurdist comedy that unfortunately unravels all the strong work that came before. It’s a film that makes you feel like you could be watching the next great modern “rom-com” all before it descends into awkward and quite unhumorous antics. But like most relationships the beginning seems like a dream that is too good to be true.

Iris and Isaac are happy together. Two attractive millennials that talk like Gen Zs, Iris (Molly Gordon) is all smiles belting out Dolly Parton with Isaac (Logan Lerman) on their trip up to High Falls, a fictional upstate town where the two are planning a weekend romantic getaway. Iris and Isaac have nothing less than googly eyes for one another making it all the funnier when Iris feels like she must go into protective mode when a flirty strawberry vendor complements Isaacs soft hands. “The strawberries taste bitter” she replies. Gordon a rising star in the comedy world with the likes of fellow breakout actresses like Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott hits the protective girlfriend mode like a tee and hilariously tells us everything we need to know about Iris. Gordon a natural talent has no trouble delivering the scripts lines that rise and fall like any new relationship would (Gordon is given a story credit along with Brooks). But what makes OH, HI! work so well early on is the connection between Iris and Isaac and more specifically the chemistry between Gordon and Lerman. Isaac with his boyish charm that swings from innocent to hot man sweeping you off your feet (he even knows how to cook scallops ladies) appears to be a perfect counterpart to Iris’ more energetic self that is both smitten over Isaac but also knows how confidently be herself in the quieter moments as well as the more sexually driven aspects.

It all seems to be going according to plan. But as anyone on Hinge can tell you there is that exact moment where you realize this relationship is, well basically fucked. When Iris tells Isaac how fast she is falling for him in this relationship he is confused and surprised by the word “relationship.” To him none of this was exclusive, something he could have sworn was agreed upon early on. Only one major problem. You see a few minutes prior Isaac and Iris engaged in some light BDSM where Issac is chained to the bed on both his wrists and ankles. So when he announces not only is he not exclusive with Iris but he does not want a relationship period, well Iris does the only thing that seems reasonable to her. She refuses to unlock Isaac until he gets to know the real her. Twelve hours, that’s all she needs to convince Isaac she is the right girl for him. Brooks’ directing uses this absurd but frightening scenario to allow Gordon to have some of her best comedic performances to date where Iris does everything from describing how she came out of her mother’s vagina all the way to performing a former middle school choregraphed dance to Mario’s “Let Me Love You.” Even with the absurd scenario at hand and Lerman’s terrified and perplexed performance it stays in good fun where Iris’ actions are clearly in the wrong. But too much of a good thing can lead to nothing at all. The film resting at such strong moments introduces a whole other kind of film involving even more absurdist comedy with two painfully unfunny supporting characters that practically undoes the emotional and comedic weight that came before.

Once Iris’ friends (Geraldine Viswanathan and John Reynolds respectively) enter the film the whole thing takes a turn that while never ignored before really brings an comfortability to the mockery of assault. There is no point in debating if the film would work even less if the roles were reversed because the issue at hand is not gender based but trying to find humor in a situation that needs a much more serious way off depiction. In the beginning Isaac’s genuine fear for his life is less played for laughs as the laughs are focused more on Iris’ believing she isn’t in the wrong. It even allows for the film just to stay focused on its two leads and the mistakes they both bring to the table. But when the film becomes a story that plays out like a trio of NYU Tisch kids trying to clear themselves of a kidnapping its as unneeded as it is unfunny. Why the film felt it needed more than its two leads feels like something that should have been addressed on the cutting floor. Viswanathan and Reynolds as performers miss nearly every joke and they become more of a commentary on an already understood scenario.

OH, HI! allows for greater frustration because instead of being handed a film that was unbearable from the start Brook’s offers such an engaging first half of a film that you could have almost seen a classic in the making. Instead it finds itself battling its own ideas and rarely giving it a longer thought even when it tries to circle back in the end. It’s subject matter and the situation at hand can and should be deemed uncomfortable but it would hardly be the first comedy to address uncomfortable situations. Just this past year awards were handed out in the plenty for the dramedy “Baby Reindeer” which addresses a much more serious and all too real scenario, but OH, HI! carries many of those same issues at hand in terms of power dynamic even if it feels even at times. Isaac is not a great person, neither is Iris when the film keeps them together battling their own mind games it works well. But unfortunately it is a film that feels like the playing fields are never equal. In the dating world that may be true, but for Iris and Isaac they were equals so why not allow the film to play as such. Instead OH, HI! ditches the mind games and instead chooses an easier path little commitment.

C+

OH, HI PREMIERED AT THE 2025 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL IN THE PREMIERES SECTION.