A24 is known to produce films that play with our heartstrings and the You Hurt My Feelings trailer shows exactly that. This is a Nicole Holofcener film and she joins the crew as a writer and director, while the film stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tobias Menzies, Michaela Watkins, Arian Moayed, Amber Tamblyn, and David Cross alongside other cast members. Louis-Dreyfus also joins the crew as a producer along with Holofcener, Stefanie Azpiazu and Anthony Bregman.
This film talks about a writer trying to figure out why her book didn’t work, while her husband pretends to enjoy what she has written, the world comes crashing down on her when she finds out that whatever he has been saying is not true. Furthermore, the opinions are only compounded when her best friend shares that this is something every couple has been doing in the history of this world to make sure there is marital harmony. The real question is whether the writer is able to accept the truth of life or not.
We see Louis-Dreyfus’ character in the trailer figure out whether her life is actually working or not in the beginning when she has to sit among a group of writers who have no idea what they want to write about in the first place. However, she is reminded of her own struggles with writing a book and telling her story of abuse and childhood trauma. She is seen with her husband, whom she very clearly loves and has a very happy marriage with. At a gathering, her mother expresses how the last book should have done better than it is doing right now.
While that was insightful to hear, her friend has been expressing how there are many new voices in the world, that would want to hear something different. For Louis-Dreyfus’ character, she has to come to terms with the fact that she has become an old voice now. It is reassuring though that her husband thinks that she is the best voice even if she is an old one now.
We then shift perspectives to see the husband, who seems to be a couples counsellor. He is reassuring his wife that her new book and her memoir are both great. In speaking to his friend, he confesses that he has been feeling off his game lately and that has been manifesting in the way he has been working with people at the moment. He has been feeling old too now. Age is catching up to both of them and they are in a compliment battle reassuring each other of their looks.
In a surprising turn of events, she finds out that her husband doesn’t actually like what she has written but it is too late to say anything so all he can do is confess all of this to his friend, while she slyly listens to the whole conversation from behind a shelf full of backpacks. It is a really saddening set of events that is broken by some humour giving some indication that the tone of this film is going to be slightly mocking and won’t take itself too seriously.
When we see the duo back again in the same space, this time they are joined by their couple friends who are also having dinner together. The protagonist confronts her husband and it becomes clear that she will not be backing down in the face of some poorly-defined excuses. We see that her character is mad because her husband has been lying for her whole life. This becomes a linchpin in all their lives consuming them, till there are more truths and fewer lies, but things don’t always get better when you’re being truthful the whole time.
Watch the You Hurt My Feelings Trailer
You Hurt My Feelings is releasing in theatres on May 26, 2023. Find out more about the film on the A24 website. Do you think the writer will be able to come to terms with her failures and losses? Let us know in the comments below.
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