''Sorry, Haters'' is a 2005

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film written and directed by Jeff Stanzler, starring

Robin Wright Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress. She has won a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award, and has received eleven Emmy Award nominations for her work in television. Wright first gained attention for her role in t ...

, Abdel Kechiche,

Élodie Bouchez Élodie Bouchez-Bangalter (born 5 April 1973) is a French actress. She became internationally known for her role as Renée Rienne on the fifth and final season of the television show ''Alias'' and for playing Maïté Alvarez in the film '' Wild ...

and

Sandra Oh Sandra Miju Oh (born July 20, 1971) is a Canadian–American actress. She is best known for her starring roles as Rita Wu on the HBO comedy '' Arliss'' (1996–2002), Dr. Cristina Yang on the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005 ...

. Distributed by

IFC Films IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its ...

, the film premiered at the 2005

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

and received a limited release in North America on March 1, 2006. ''Sorry, Haters'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on August 8, 2006.

Plot

post-9/11 The post-9/11 period is the time after the September 11 attacks, characterized by heightened suspicion of non-Americans in the United States, increased government efforts to address terrorism, and a more aggressive American foreign policy. Pol ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, Syrian

taxicab driver A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

Ashade encounters a strange fare in Phoebe. Phoebe works for a network called Q-Dog, where she produces an ''MTV Cribs''-style

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

program titled ''Sorry, Haters''. Though Phoebe engages in small talk with Ashade, it is clear that the woman is in an anxious state as she instructs him to drive to suburban New Jersey, placating his reservations with cash. In New Jersey, Phoebe has the cab stop outside a home where she can observe her ex-husband, her child and their house. According to Phoebe, her husband divorced her and re-married, obtaining the house and custody of their kid in the process. Before leaving, Phoebe vandalizes her ex-husband's car. On the drive back to New York, Phoebe imposes a friendship on Ashade. She learns Ashade, who earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in chemistry before emigrating to the U.S., has legal problems. Ashade's brother, a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

citizen for 10 years, was stopped by U.S. officials on his way through

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia ...

and is now a prisoner at

Guantánamo Guantánamo (, , ) is a municipality and city in southeast Cuba and capital of Guantánamo Province. Guantánamo is served by the Caimanera port near the site of a U.S. naval base. The area produces sugarcane and cotton wool. These are traditi ...

. Legal appeals have failed, though Ashade maintains his brother is innocent. In the meantime, Ashade must financially support his French-Canadian sister-in-law, Eloise, who is in the country illegally. Phoebe tells Ashade that she would like to help with his situation, offering to find a high-powered lawyer to assist him. However, Phoebe's attempt to help Ashade gradually reveals a dangerous side to her, causing Ashade to flee their brief friendship. Phoebe retaliates in spite, turning Ashade's life upside-down. In order to put his life back together, Ashade must seek out Phoebe and enlist her help. In doing so, he learns about and falls prey to her dark secret.

Cast

as Phoebe Torrence * Abdelattif Kechiche as Ashade Mouhana *

as Eloise *

Aasif Mandvi Aasif Hakim Mandviwala (born March 5, 1966), known professionally as Aasif Mandvi (, ), is a British-American actor, comedian and author. He was a correspondent on ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2017. Mandvi's other television work includes the ...

as Hassan *

as Phyllis Magintyre *

Fred Durst William Frederick Durst (born August 20, 1970) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, and director. He is the frontman and lyricist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, formed in 1994, with whom he has released seven studio albums. He ap ...

as Evan Jealous *

Josh Hamilton Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from to , most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers teams that won two consecutive Americ ...

as man (uncredited) * Sebastian Roché as Mick Sutcliffe (uncredited)

Release

''Sorry, Haters'' premiered at the

on September 10, 2005. It also screened at

AFI Fest The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

on November 7, 2005. The film was released on DVD on August 8, 2006. Among its extra features, the DVD includes a roundtable discussion titled "No Apologies" from the

Independent Film Channel IFC (formerly known as the Independent Film Channel) is an American basic cable channel owned by AMC Networks, originally launching in 1994 as a TV channel devoted to independent films. The Independent Film Channel originally operated as a com ...

. The discussion is moderated by actor

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his rol ...

and features

Mary-Louise Parker Mary-Louise Parker (born August 2, 1964) is an American actress. After making her Broadway debut as Rita in Craig Lucas' '' Prelude to a Kiss'' in 1990 (for which she received a Tony Award nomination), Parker came to prominence for film roles i ...

, filmmaker

Julian Schnabel Julian Schnabel (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings" — with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been ...

, and film writers Paul Thompson and Lisa Hintelman. In the discussion, the participants debate the meaning of ''Sorry, Haters'' and share their reactions.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, ''Sorry, Haters'' has an approval rating of 37% based on 38 reviews. The critics consensus reads, "Robin Wright Penn and Abdel Kechiche's powerful performances aren't enough to keep the increasingly unbalanced ''Sorry, Haters'' from tottering completely off its axis." Many critics found the film's third act confounding. In a review for AllMovie, Derek Armstrong praised the performances but wrote, "Stanzler emerges as no better than a deluded provocateur, not the brave pusher of hot buttons he wanted to be. It's a shame, because a creepy first half sets an excellent tone, asking questions that seem like they'll have discomfiting answers. But as it spirals off into ridiculousness, the film doesn't merely owe its audience those answers -- ''Sorry, Haters'' owes them an apology, indeed." Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars based solely on Robin Wright's performance. He wrote, "To see great work is a reason to see an imperfect movie, and to observe how the movie loses its way may be useful even if it's frustrating. My inclination was to give the film a negative star rating, but that would mean recommending you not see this performance by Penn, and that I am unwilling to do." Critics also found the film's messaging muddled.

Maitland McDonagh Maitland McDonagh () is an American film critic and the author of several books about cinema. She is the author of ''Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento'' (1991) and works of erotic fiction and erotic cinema, as well ...

of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' wrote, "Stanzler's ideas about the psychic legacy of 9/11 are so confused—Phoebe's craziness seems to have something to do with soul-eroding consumerism, media-made self-loathing and the empowering thrill of disaster—that by the time he unveils the final plot twist, his film has lost every shred of credibility."

Accolades

In 2007, ''Sorry, Haters'' was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Female Lead. Wright won a Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress.

References

External links

* * *{{amg title, id=333736, title=Sorry, Haters 2005 films 2005 thriller drama films American thriller drama films Films set in New York City 2005 drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2005 independent films Films based on the September 11 attacks