''The Hating Game'' is a 2021 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 Peter Hutchings. It is based on the novel of the same name by Sally Thorne, and stars

Lucy Hale Karen Lucille Hale (born June 14, 1989) is an American actress and singer. She has received various accolades, including seven Teen Choice Awards (the most for any actress in a single series), a Gracie Awards, Gracie Award, a People's Choice Aw ...

and

Austin Stowell Austin Miles Stowell (born December 24, 1984) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Dolphin Tale'' (2011), its sequel '' Dolphin Tale 2'' (2014), '' Love and Honor'' (2013), '' Whiplash'' (2014), as Francis Gary Powers in Steven S ...

in the lead roles. The film was released in theaters and

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

on December 10, 2021, by

Vertical Entertainment Vertical (formerly Vertical Entertainment) is an American independent film distribution company founded by producers Rich Goldberg and Mitch Budin in 2012. Vertical releases films across all mediums, including theatrical, video on demand, physica ...

. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot

Lucy and Josh are forced to work together after their respective publishing companies are merged. Complete opposites in every way possible, they despise each other. Their rivalry comes to a head when they go face-to-face for the same promotion. Realizing neither wants to work under the other, they make a bet: whoever does not get the job has to quit. However, both become increasingly attracted to each other and share a passionate kiss in the elevator before Lucy goes on a date with their co-worker Danny. At a company paintball event a few days later, Lucy collapses due to a fever and is brought home by Josh, who has her checked by his brother Pat, a physician. Lucy overhears that Josh needs a plus one for his brother‘s wedding and offers to accompany him to pay him back. After they kiss again, Josh asks her to sort out things with Danny first, as he does not want to be just a fling for her. Later that evening, after Lucy has confirmed she does not have chemistry with Danny, Lucy shows up at Josh's apartment. Josh invites her in, and reveals that he has a strained relationship with his father because he dropped out of med school, while his brother was always the favorite. They become closer, but Josh refuses to have sex with Lucy, angering her. Arriving at the inn for his brother‘s wedding weekend, Josh and Lucy discover the reservation was botched, so they have to share a room. After showering, the two finally have sex. Lucy finds out from Pat's bride Mindy that she is Josh's ex-girlfriend, she is initially upset with Josh until he explains to her that he is over her. After witnessing Josh's father belittle him, she stands up for him, impressing Josh. Back at home, Josh offers to start a real relationship with Lucy and forget about their bet. The next day, Lucy overhears and misinterprets a conversation between Josh and their boss, concluding that Josh has been using their romance to distract her from the promotion. Enraged, she vows to beat Josh for the job. On the day of the promotion competition, Lucy gets the job as it turns out Josh had already quit to join another company. The two kiss and become a couple.

Cast

as Lucy Hutton *

as Joshua "Josh" Templeman * Damon Daunno as Danny * Yasha Jackson as Julie *

Sean Cullen Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as '' Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; ang ...

as Anthony * Sakina Jaffrey as Helene *

Corbin Bernsen Corbin Dean Bernsen (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor and film director. He appeared as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series ''L.A. Law'',

as Richard Bexley * Nicholas Baroudi as Patrick "Pat" Templeman * Tania Asnes as Annabelle * Brock Yurich as Mack * Kathryn Boswell as Mindy

Production

The film was announced in May 2019, with

and

Robbie Amell Robert Patrick Amell IV (born April 21, 1988) is a Canadian-American actor and producer. He is best-known for his roles as Stephen Jameson on The CW series ''The Tomorrow People'' (2013–2014), Ronnie Raymond / Firestorm on The CW series ''Th ...

cast as the lead roles. On November 10, 2020,

was cast, as Amell dropped out due to a scheduling conflict. Filming began on November 21 in upstate New York, in Saugerties, NY during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, with a couple of days of filming in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and concluded on December 23.

Release

In July 2021,

acquired distribution rights to the film.

Reception

''The Hating Game'' had a limited theatrical release on December 10, 2021. It was also available to stream on various VOD platforms. Review aggregator

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 ...

reported in late February 2022 that 71% out of 21 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.60/10. Multiple articles praised the chemistry of the two leads.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hating Game, The 2021 films 2021 romantic comedy films 2020s English-language films American romantic comedy films Films based on Australian novels Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Vertical (film company) films Workplace comedy films Works about book publishing and bookselling Films directed by Peter Hutchings 2020s American films English-language romantic comedy films