I was wondering what the next great twist on the romcom was going to be. The Threesome takes an erotic thriller premise and spins it into a movie idea no one ever considered. Can the movie live up to that hype? Just like a threesome? Not that I have any experience in that department, *sigh*.
The trio initially starts as a duo. Connor (Jonah Hauer-King) is lovesick over Olivia (Zoey Deutch). They hooked up once drunkenly, but Connor always wanted more than that from the ever elusive former co-worker of his. Sick of his sad-sacking, Connor’s gay bff Greg (Jaboukie Young-White) points out Jenny (Ruby Cruz), a poor girl clearly stood up for a date that Connor should talk to. He does…but so does Olivia, who both help cheer Jenny up, go out dancing, and, well, a truth or dare filled night and two pregnancy tests later…
The initiating incident happens 30 minutes into the movie, giving us an hour dealing with the fallout of The Threesome for our character. That messy intertwining is the most interesting stuff in the movie, going to great lengths to entagle each of the leads. They’re all flawed in their own ways: Olivia has lived a non committal life that she can’t anymore; Jenny is meek and deferential as a default setting, letting her inner feelings consume her; and Connor is at war with himself, pining for Olivia but wanting to do the right thing by Jenny. Ethan Ogilby’s script flips the dynamics between the 3 leads early and often, further muddying the waters in a good way. I vacillated frequently between how I wanted the characters to end up, sometimes within a scene. The movie writes itself into a corner and cops out in the final act, but the buildup is exciting and fun/fascinating enough that you won’t roll your eyes that hard.
The leading ladies also elevate the material. Apologies to Jonah Hauer-King, who seems like a hunky beautiful nice guy, but he’s giving nothing interesting other than reacting to the awesome stuff he’s given from the queens he somehow got into bed with. Ruby Cruz turns quiet into dignified tragic, understanding she’s very much the odd one out but not knowing what to do about it. She plays Jenny reserved with brief beautiful moments of emotional release, but still grounded in the character. But leaving The Threesome if you had never seen Zoey Deutch before, you’d go “Whose that?” Her character gets the best arc, in part because Ethan Ogilby probably wrote her from experience…and because Deutch is the best actor among the three leads. Watching a hot mess come to terms with becoming a responsible adult is mesmerizing and emotionally volatile when played right, and any scene with Deutch at the center of it makes you sit up a bit higher to pay closer attention.
Of course Zoey Deutch would win The Threesome! I’ve had season tickets since Everybody Wants Some!!, and I can’t wait to see what other tricks she has in her acting bag going forward. Richard Linklater, you clearly love her, so let’s reunite her and Glen Powell for another killer romcom, Set It Up dude!