''Irreplaceable You'' is a 2018 American romantic

comedy-drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...

directed by

Stephanie Laing Stephanie Laing is an American filmmaker known primarily for her work in television. She has worked on shows such as '' Tracey Takes On...'', '' Tracey Ullman's Visible Panty Lines'', '' Vice Principals'', ''Divorce'', '' Veep'', and '' Eastbound ...

and written by Bess Wohl. The film stars

Gugu Mbatha-Raw Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha-Raw, MBE (; born 21 April 1983) is an English actress. She began acting at the National Youth Music Theatre and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and gained acclaim for her roles as Juliet in ''Romeo and Juliet'' and O ...

and

Michiel Huisman Michiel Huisman (born 18 July 1981) is a Dutch actor, musician and singer-songwriter born in Amstelveen, recognized for his roles in Dutch and international film and television projects. Huisman's music career began as the singer and guitarist ...

. It was released by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on February 16, 2018.

Plot

Abbie and Sam have been best friends since childhood and are engaged to be married. Their lives come crashing down when Abbie is given a terminal cancer diagnosis. Faced with the prospect of an uncertain timeline, Abbie begins a search for a new love to take care of Sam. Along the way, Abbie makes unlikely friendships with three patients whose one thing in common is that they focus on living while they are dying. Abbie dies at the end without having lived up to her potential, yet manages to come to terms with her situation and with those she is leaving behind.

Cast

as Abbie **

Celeste O'Connor Celeste O'Connor (born December 2, 1998) is an American actor. They played Paloma Davis in the Amazon Studios#List of original films, Amazon original film ''Selah and the Spades''. Early life and education Celeste O'Connor was born on December ...

as Teen Abbie *** Alyssa Cheatham as Young Abbie *

as Sam ** Sawyer Barth as Teen Sam *** Zachary Hernandez as Young Sam *

Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Christopher Walken on stage and screen, His work on stage and screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Walken, accolades includin ...

as Myron *

Brian Tyree Henry Brian Tyree Henry (born March 31, 1982) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as rapper Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX (TV channel), FX comedy-drama series ''Atlanta (TV series), Atlanta'' (2016–2022), for which he recei ...

as Benji *

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English-Irish actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. His accolades include four BAFTA Awards and three British Comedy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Aw ...

as Mitch *

Timothy Simons Timothy Simons (born June 12, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Jonah Ryan on the HBO television series ''Veep'' (2012–2019) and the Netflix series '' Nobody Wants This'' (2024–present). Early life and ...

as Dominic *

Tamara Tunie Tamara Tunie (born March 14, 1959) is an American film, stage, and television actress, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles as attorney Jessica Griffin on the CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns'' (1987–1995, 1999–2007, 20 ...

as Abbie's mother, Jane *

Jacki Weaver Jacqueline Ruth Weaver (born 25 May 1947) is an Australian theatre, film, and television actress. Her accolades include five AACTA Awards (including the Longford Lyell Award) and a National Board of Review Award, in addition to nominations ...

as Estelle *

Merritt Wever Merritt Carmen Wever (born August 11, 1980) is an American actress. She had roles in the Showtime television series '' Nurse Jackie'' (2009–2015), ''The Walking Dead'' (2015–2016), '' Godless'' (2017), '' Welcome to Marwen'' (2018), '' Unb ...

as Mindy *

Gayle Rankin Gayle Rankin is a Scottish actress. She is known for her role as Sheila in the Netflix series '' GLOW'' (2017–2019). She also played Emily Dodson in the HBO series ''Perry Mason'' (2020). Her films include ''The Greatest Showman'' (2017), ''Her ...

as Mira *

Kate McKinnon Kate McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2012 to 2022, where she became known for her character work and celebrity im ...

as Glass Half Full Kate *

Jessie Ennis Jessie Ennis is an American actress, director, and writer. Personal life Ennis was born in Boston but moved to Los Angeles at the age of 2. She is the daughter of American actor and comedian John Ennis. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence Coll ...

as Melanie *

Glenn Fleshler Glenn Fleshler is an American actor. On television, he is noted as a recurring cast member on ''Boardwalk Empire'' who portrayed real-life bootlegger George Remus, for appearing on '' Billions'', and as Errol Childress in the first season of ...

as Mean Phil

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of . On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 34 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.

References

External links

* * {{Stephanie Laing 2018 films 2018 romantic comedy-drama films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films American romantic comedy-drama films English-language romantic comedy-drama films Films about cancer in the United States Films about interracial romance Films directed by Stephanie Laing Films scored by Lesley Barber Netflix original films