‘Oh, Hi!’ Movie Review: Molly Gordon Makes Woman-On-The-Verge Chamber Piece An Offbeat Delight
Photo from Sony Pictures Classics
From Jeremy Kibler
Oh, Hi! feels like an indie romantic-comedy made over a long weekend (although it was written during COVID). Sophie Brooks wrote and directed this quirky chamber piece that becomes something else—a Stephen King-lite farce, in fact—but doesn’t go far enough to completely lose control (there’s no “hobbling” or “degloving” here). Resisting the urge to pivot into full-on horror territory, this is an offbeat delight with a droll, absurdist energy and some witty dialogue. Oh, Hi! does somewhat lose its way when it gets really wacky, but being in crazy, stupid love is always a little messy.
After ominous music cues, the film turns the clock back 33 hours earlier to couple-of-four-months Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman) on a drive, blaring Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers’ “Islands in the Stream.” They’re beginning a weekend getaway to an Airbnb farmhouse in High Falls, New York, but not before stopping at a strawberry stand (which comes with a very funny payoff). Immediately, Gordon and Lerman make these characters seem like a couple destined to be together with a playful, effortless banter where their senses of humor match and there’s a mutual horniness. They have a swim together, he cooks scallops for her, she tries selling him to watch Casablanca (her favorite movie), and they share a romantic dance under string lights.
When they find the owners’ locked closet of kink parapheralia with handcuffs and a ball gag, they decide to have some fun. After both Iris and Isaac, um, finish, a still-cuffed Isaac admits that he isn’t looking for a relationship and didn’t think they were exclusive. This stuns Iris, but she chalks it up to Isaac just being confused and decides to leave him chained to the bed for 12 hours until he comes to his senses. Once Iris’ best friend Max (Geraldine Viswanathan) and her affable, Law and Order-loving boyfriend Kenny (John Reynolds) show up, the situation doesn’t get resolved so much as it keeps getting out of hand.
When it’s being a romantic weekend getaway turned on its head with disillusionment, Oh, Hi! plays with expectations and antiquated characterizations we attach to both men and women in allegedly monogamous relationships. Why do women have to be made to feel psychotic when men lead them on and don’t know what they want? But also, why should one be punished more than the other? Is there just commitment anxiety on both sides and an overall lack of communication? The push-pull between Iris and Isaac as a two-hander when one of them literally has their two hands shackled is uncomfortably funny, and writer-director Sophie Brooks keeps a light, delicate touch through some, if not all, of the absurd happenings. It must’ve seemed too static and unsustainable, so the film later becomes a four-hander. This is where the “what would you do?” scenario of the film shifts gears once more into a madcap door-slamming farce with echoes of Practical Magic.
The adorably likable Gordon (who wrote the story with friend and director Brooks) always has a way with a one-liner and retains a big-eyed warmth even when her character might be a young woman on the verge. Fortunately, Iris is written and acted with enough relatability to offset the delusions and not be annoying or merely the soon-to-be “crazy ex-girlfriend,” while Lerman is charming enough, even as his Isaac completely changes his tune with the film’s tone.
Keeping her Australian accent this time, Viswanathan is wonderful as Max, and Reynolds does his affable milquetoast shtick as Kenny. David Cross has an extended cameo as a weird neighbor named Steve, and Polly Draper is always welcome, even if she only has one scene via FaceTime as Iris’ mother.
Oh, Hi! does benefit from going into without knowing too much. That element of surprise is so refreshing, until the script walks itself into a bit of a corner and runs out of steam before it’s time to say bye. For a film that starts stronger than how it finishes, the reward of it all is much to the testament of the endearing Molly Gordon daring us not to like her in kinda-amusing, kinda-sweet version of Misery. Even when it’s hard to buy every character decision, she kidnaps our hearts.
Rating: 3/5
Oh, Hi! hits theaters on July 25, 2025.
