A big swing and nearly a miss, Chad Hartigan’s The Threesome is not without its charms even as it can overstay its welcome. A rom-com that offers a more serious tone for characters either in a state of arrested development or a new kind of adulthood that defies labels, it has much in common with Hartigan’s previous films, which live and breathe as hangout movies. His latest, written by Ethan Ogilby, starts to wane as characters continue bantering over the predicament they find themselves in time and again, leading to an awkward balancing act.
The fatal flaw is that lead Connor (Jonah Hauer-King) is too generic––a recording engineer living in Little Rock, Arkansas who appears to be an all-around good guy made for flirty banter. He’s always had a thing for hip waitress Olivia (the always-spirited Zoey Deutch). Olivia is either a free spirit or someone without a trajectory; it’s easy to see why Connor has a crush on her. One evening at the restaurant they pick up Jenny (Ruby Cruz), a stranger at the bar, and head back to Connor’s place. After the threesome takes place, Connor and Jenny exchange numbers in an awkward parting of ways moments before he asks Olivia out on a real date.
Olivia comes with her own baggage––their first date involves babysitting the rambunctious kids of Olivia’s sister––but eventually they fall hard in a montage of hanging out, going for long walks, and, of course, “Netflix and chill.” Soon they realize Olivia is pregnant and, as they deliberate the next steps, the other shoe drops: Jenny is also pregnant.
Connor is soon forced into making a good impression on Jenny’s religious family while also keeping his commitment to Olivia, who––a liberal in Little Rock conflicted about keeping her child––is full of her own contradictions with hilariously little filter, loudly telling it like it is in public. Meanwhile, Jenny is deeply religious and takes the pregnancy as a sign. She’s also a paradox, a sexually curious grad student who knows she’s not meant to be with Connor but desperately needs him to be present for her parents.
While Hartigan keeps the affair restrained and grounded with some flashes of humor, the momentum starts to drag: Connor is the least-flawed (and, by extension, least-interesting) leg of the triangle. Far more restrained than, say, a Will Gluck-directed studio rom-com, Hartigan’s picture could use a little more energy without resorting to tropes like Connor’s gay best friend (Jaboukie Young-White) who is brought in for comic relief and well-timed advice.
While uneven in character development, The Threesome is a rare rom-com that tackles serious issues around access to abortion care and what modern dating looks like, even in a politically divided city in a deep red state. While there’s a lot to admire and some big laughs courtesy of Deutch, the film will wear down audiences a bit, feeling both redundant and, as many romantic comedies do, ultimately predictable.
The Threesome premiered at 2025 SXSW.