At one point during the premiere of “Oh, Hi!” at the Sundance Film Festival, my friend and I turned to each other, wide-eyed.
Just two days before, I had regaled her with my latest tale of dating woe on our drive up to Park City. Now, it felt like we were seeing it play out on screen.
“Oh, Hi!” — a modern dating story written and directed by Sophie Brooks that stars Molly Gordon, Logan Lerman, Geraldine Viswanathan and John Reynolds — is an unflinching look at dating after the social disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The movie follows Isaac (Lerman) and Iris (Gordon), a new couple on their first romantic weekend away. The pair quickly realize they’re not on the same page — Iris believes that they’re a couple, while Isaac insists they’re just casually dating — and Iris goes through ridiculous lengths to prove that they should be together.
“Oh, Hi!” is a new type of rom-com, one that fits the uncertain dating landscape that single people currently find themselves in.
I write a lot about dating — they say write what you know — and at the end of last year, realized that the dating scene is bleaker than it ever has been.
Many single adults feel that dating is harder than ever before — according to Pew Research Center, in 2020, nearly half of U.S. adults said that “that dating has become harder in the last 10 years.”
“Oh, Hi!” doesn’t gloss over the nitty-gritty of modern dating. Instead, it takes a magnifying glass to the painful and uncomfortable nuances of post-pandemic dating.
“Oh, Hi!” hasn’t yet been rated, but it has some sexual content and language.
The idea for ‘Oh, Hi!’ came from dating during the pandemic
Both Brooks and Gordon — who came up with the idea for the movie together — had noticed similar difficulties in the dating world.
During a panel after the movie, Gordon said that the idea for “Oh, Hi!” came during the pandemic — which pushed single adults into a “dating recession,” according to a 2024 Stanford Study, as Bloomberg reported last year.
“Sophie and I were both thriving in the pandemic, absolutely looking hot, dating many people, going out a lot,” Gordon joked. “No, we were both very sad, and we came up with this idea.”
Brooks added that “Oh, Hi!” was inspired by dating in New York City.
“The inspiration is just dating New York City, the ups and downs of that and kind of the comedy of dating culture, a lot of times with (dating) apps and Instagram,” Brooks told me on Sunday. “... I think we’re in such an interesting moment, with situationships and ghosting and all these things.”
‘Oh, Hi!’ offers a painfully honest look at modern dating
About a third of the way into the film, “Oh, Hi!” escalates in a way that’s borderline absurd — but the film is at it’s best it makes poignant observations about modern dating.
At one point, Iris grills Isaac: if they weren’t a couple, why did he make her a romantic dinner, with scallops as the main entree? Why did he touch her so tenderly? Why did they go on a romantic, weekend-long trip? Why did he pursue her in the first place?
This is a conversation, almost word-for-word, that I have had with my girlfriends. If he wasn’t interested, why did he seek me out? What’s with all the flirty touching? Why was he so flirty in general? Why did he ask such emotionally vulnerable questions?
It’s enough to make a woman feel crazy — a trope that “Oh, Hi!” gleefully leans into.
When Isaac insists, despite all the evidence, that he never thought of them as a couple, Iris spirals into a tailspin, which culminates in her frantically proving herself to him.
The situation Iris finds herself in is absolutely ridiculous — without giving too much away, Isaac is literally tied to the bed in a “Misery”-like twist — and she often veers into a caricature of the crazy single woman, desperate to be loved.
But, as Gordon told The Hollywood Reporter, “This (movie) really is wish fulfillment for all of us women.”
And, weirdly enough, I get it. When ghosting — effectively ending all communication with someone you’re dating — is so common, who hasn’t wanted to sit someone they’ve dated down to get answers? Who hasn’t wanted a second chance at proving themselves?
Brooks makes other similarly pithy observations about modern dating, which are on full display in the film.
When Iris is debriefing with her best friend, played by Viswanathan, her friend tells her that Isaac is a “soft boy” — essentially a man who wants the all the good parts of a relationship, from physical to emotional intimacy, without the commitment.
During the panel, Brooks said that she and Gordon wanted to play with other stereotypical dating tropes.
“I think there’s this thing where when a man is looking for love, it’s really sweet and romantic, and when a woman is looking for love it’s desperate and scary,” Brooks said. “And I think that’s really unfair and interesting.”
So what can single people get from “Oh, Hi!”? “(The movie says) you shouldn’t have to convince someone to like you,” Brooks told me. It’s a lesson Iris — and a lot of other singles — has to learn the hard way.
But despite all the mishaps and miscommunications, Brooks said that she wants audiences to leave “Oh, Hi!” feeling hopeful.
“I’m romantic. I don’t think love is over, I really deeply believe in love,” Brooks said. “But I do think modern dating and (dating apps) has given us this bigger, better, faster kind of mentality, where we’re undervaluing a connection because it is quite rare.”
She continued, “Love is really real, and it should be honored and protected.”