''Somebody I Used to Know'' is a 2023 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Dave Franco David John Franco (born June 12, 1985) is an American actor and filmmaker. He began his career with small roles in films such as '' Superbad'' (2007) and '' Charlie St. Cloud'' (2010). Following a starring role in the final season of the comed ...

and co-written with his wife

Alison Brie Alison Brie Schermerhorn (born December 29, 1982) is an American actress, writer, and producer. She earned recognition for playing Trudy Campbell in the drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), and had her Breakthrough role, breakthrough starring ...

. The film stars Brie,

Jay Ellis Wendell Ramone "Jay" Ellis Jr. (born December 27, 1981) is an American actor. In 2013, Ellis received his first major role on BET's series '' The Game''. His role as Martin "Lawrence" Walker in the HBO series '' Insecure'' (2016-2021), earned h ...

, and

Kiersey Clemons Kiersey Nicole Clemons (born December 17, 1993) is an American actress. She is known for her role in the 2015 comedy-drama film '' Dope'', playing Cassandra "Diggy" Andrews. Subsequently, she went on to co-star in '' Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising ...

. It was released on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

on February 10, 2023.

Plot

Ally is the

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

of ''Dessert Island'', a successful but waning

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...

series. After filming the season's final episode, she is informed that the show will be cancelled. With no social life outside of work, she decides to take a break and visit her mother in

Leavenworth, Washington Leavenworth is a city in Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee, Washington, Wenatchee−East Wenatchee, Washington, East Wenatchee Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metropolit ...

. At a bar in her hometown, she runs into an ex-boyfriend, Sean. They spend the night drinking together, and kiss in the car when Sean takes her home. He refuses her invitation for sex, and she leaves awkwardly. Later that day, she visits Sean's house intending to apologize for the incident, but learns that he is getting married that weekend and his family is throwing a party. She tries to leave, but Sean's mother Jojo insists she attend the wedding to film it. Ally learns that Sean's fiancée, Cassidy, is alienated from her parents. She feels suspicious about her, and gets her assistant, Kayla, to dig up information about Cassidy's family. Meanwhile, a streaming platform is interested to renew ''Dessert Island'' for another season and wants to meet with Ally. Cassidy is uneasy about Ally's presence at wedding parties. She performs with her

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band at a bar, and later shares a table with Ally to talk about Sean. Cassidy tells Ally that she plans to stop touring with her band to settle down with Sean after marriage. Ally notices that she is unhappy about this. Kayla finds information about Cassidy's parents, and Ally asks her to send them an anonymous invitation to the wedding. When Ally and Cassidy spend more time with each other, Ally realizes her impression of her was mistaken. They bond over common interests, even ending up

streaking Streaking is the act of running naked through a public area for publicity, for fun, as a prank, a dare, a form of protest, or to participate in a fad. Streaking is often associated with sporting events, but can occur in more secluded areas. Str ...

together on a golf course after smoking

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

. Sean is distracted by their growing closeness. On the eve of the wedding, Cassidy is surprised to see her parents. Ally does not confess to inviting them, leading Cassidy to blame Sean for it and call off the wedding. At their hotel, Ally tries to correct her mistake by getting Sean and Cassidy to understand each other better. Sean realizes he is suppressing Cassidy's career and apologizes. Meanwhile, Ally takes the blame for inviting Cassidy's parents, and Cassidy reneges on cancelling the wedding. Ally leaves the event permanently and returns to her mother's house, where they have a heart-to-heart about being one's true self. Ally leaves for Los Angeles, but makes a pact to visit more often. ''Dessert Island'' is picked up for another season, but Ally passes showrunning duties on to Kayla. She chooses to focus on her interests, picking up another show instead, which centers around the topic of

nudism Naturism is a lifestyle of practicing non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...

. In a mid-credits scene, a commercial for ''Dessert Island Season 4: The Dess-Hurt Locker'' in the style of ''

The Hurt Locker ''The Hurt Locker'' is a 2008 American war action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. T ...

'' is shown. Kayla is listed as the creator.

Cast

Production

In August 2021, it was announced that

and

had joined the cast, with

directing from a screenplay he wrote with Brie.

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

produced and distributed the film through

Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

. In September 2021,

Julie Hagerty Julie Beth Hagerty (born June 15, 1955) is an American actress. She starred as Elaine Dickinson in the films ''Airplane!'' (1980) and '' Airplane II: The Sequel'' (1982). Her other film roles include ''A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy'' (1982), '' ...

Haley Joel Osment Haley Joel Osment (born April 10, 1988) is an American actor. Beginning his career as a child actor, Osment's role in the comedy-drama film ''Forrest Gump'' (1994) won him a Young Artist Award. His breakthrough came with the psychological thr ...

Amy Sedaris Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She played Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central comedy series '' Strangers with Candy'' (1999–2000) and the prequel film '' Strangers with Candy'' (2005), wh ...

Danny Pudi Daniel Mark Pudi (born March 10, 1979) is an American actor and director. His roles include Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supp ...

Zoë Chao Zoë Carroll Chao (born September 19, 1985) is an American television and stage actress and screenwriter, principally known for her roles as Isobel in ''Strangers'' and Zoë in '' The Afterparty''. Early life Chao was born in Providence, Rhode ...

, Evan Jonigkeit, Olga Merediz,

Ayden Mayeri Ayden Mayeri (born October 1, 1990) is an Iranian-American actress, comedian, and writer, known for her work in both television and film. On television, she had a recurring role in ''Homecoming'' (2018) and starred in the Peacock comedy '' Mr. ...

and

Kelvin Yu Kelvin Yu (born 1979) is an American actor and writer. Early life and education Yu was born to Yu Ming-chuan and Lin Ling-juan. He grew up in Los Angeles, where he currently resides. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angele ...

joined the cast. Franco said the film was inspired by romantic comedies of the 1980s and 1990s.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in and around

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

in September 2021. In August 2022, Brie said that post-production had wrapped and the film was finished.

Release

The film was released on February 10, 2023.

Reception

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 ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, assigned the film a score of 57 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title 2023 romantic comedy films 2023 films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films Amazon MGM Studios films American romantic comedy films Black Bear Pictures films Amazon Prime Video original films English-language romantic comedy films Films about interracial romance Films about weddings in the United States Films directed by Dave Franco Films produced by Wyck Godfrey Films set in Los Angeles Films set in Washington (state) Films shot in Washington (state) Films shot in Portland, Oregon Temple Hill Entertainment films