Emily (Taylor Schilling) and Alex (Adam Scott) are in a bit of a rut. They love each other and their young son, but a move from Seattle to LA has left them a little lonely. They are adults who need friends, especially Alex, who is a stay-at-home dad while Emily goes to work all day, leaving him to share his every waking moment with a two-year-old.
When we first meet the couple in The Overnight (opening in theaters Friday), they are having formulaic sex. They have to finish themselves to get off, and it’s an accepted part of regular routine. So when they meet the eccentric hipster Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) at the park with a kid of his own in tow, a casual friendship is formed. Kurt and his wife, Charlotte, live nearby and they’d love to have Alex and Emily over for dinner that night. That’s an offer they can’t refuse. But what starts out as a few glasses of wine and a meal with the kids ends up turning into a wild night for the adults involved when it turns out Kurt and Charlotte are interested in more than just light conversation.
Writer/director Patrick Brice weaves a funny, sexy and honest story of four individuals inside two distinct relationships throughout a gorgeously and impeccably acted film. There is chemistry and mystery in every pairing, and as more champagne is poured, weed smoked and clothes taken off, the night gets longer and longer, and everyone is on board for having a deeper connection with one another-except Emily.
While her husband is finding the liquid courage to talk openly about his fears and insecurities, Emily is skeptical of Kurt. She thinks he’s self-obsessed and not as talented or smart as he likes to think he is. (His art is close-up portrait paintings of buttholes.) As for Charlotte, Emily is turned off when she learns about her job as an “actress,” (aka the star of breast pump erotic films) and later, goes with her on an excursion that ends up piquing her voyeuristic curiosity but also cluing her in that this night is all about sex.
As someone who has only had sex with her husband (Emily and Alex met in college), Emily has a hard time being honest about fantasizing about other people. When Charlotte and Kurt’s intentions become not only clear but the topic of discussion, Emily and Alex have to decide whether or not they are going to go there-especially because Kurt is specifically looking to be intimate with Alex.
The Overnight brings up the kinds of conversations and situations many people have found themselves in-those in which our true thoughts and feelings bubble up to the point of bursting, sometimes with the aid of too much liquor, lack of sleep or other outside influences. It’s a well-written and expertly-executed dark comedy based in reality, and is one of the most frank films about modern relationships and sexual fluidity that has come out in a long time. It’s unapologetically queer in its same-sex desire, and it’s all the better for it.
The Overnight opens in select theaters June 19.
