Film Review: The Overnight

Alex and Emily have recently moved their family to Los Angeles and while taking their son to the park one day they meet Kurt and his son, and they receive an invitation to Kurt’s home for dinner. Kurt and his wife, Charlotte, seem to be everything Alex and Emily have been hoping for in a pair of new friends. But as the evening goes on the couples get more inebriated, and as conversations and the entertainment becomes more suggestive and intimate, Alex and Emily realize they may have found themselves in a situation that they are unsure about.

The Overnight is a wittily written take on the sex comedy that cleverly switches the usual cast of 20-something’s for two 30-something couples and pushes the limits of awkward interactions. With great performances all around, there isn’t a weak link with Adam Scott and Taylor Schilling as Alex and Emily as well as Jason Schwartzman and Judith Godrèche as Kurt and Charlotte. The core of this story and its comedy comes in the interpersonal struggles of their relationships and the personal issues of the individuals, such as both couples experiencing intimacy issues and Alex’s body image issues. The laughs don’t come from the typical set up of joke and punch line, but rather from a series of situations that becomes more and more unbearably uncomfortable for the viewing audience as the evening progresses.

Overall I recommend The Overnight for those looking for a smarter sex comedy. If you are fans of the Duplas Brothers, they produced it so that should give you some gauge of the film’s sensibilities … only dirtier. The Overnight opens at The Cable Car Cinema on Friday, July 3.

The Overnight (2015); Director: Patrick Brice; Starring: Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, and Jason Schwartzman