The Threesome Review: A Fateful Encounter

The Threesome is about the morning, the days, and the weeks after the night before, when one spontaneous encounter changes three lives forever.

To say too much of The Threesome would spoil the ride; the twists start coming and they don’t stop coming. Connor (Jonah Hauer-King) likes Olivia (queen of the modern romcom, Zoey Deutch), but although they hooked up in the past, she’s not feeling it. A scene-stealing Jaboukie Young-White plays Connor’s best friend Greg, who works as a barman and points Connor in the direction of Jenny (Ruby Cruz) who’s been stood up. If Connor works his magic on Jenny in front of Olivia, Greg figures, then Olivia will soon come running. 

Sure enough, the three end up drinking and dancing together, before ending up somewhere quiet, smoking and playing truth or dare. One thing leads to another; the film lives up to its title. But some things don’t go to plan, and Connor, Olivia and Jenny are inextricably linked from that night on. 

Although the film is marketed as a romcom, Chad Hartigan’s direction leans more towards an indie dramedy. The film has a gentle aesthetic that belies its many conflicts. There are cosy interiors and private conversations, living rooms after babysat kids have gone to bed and long drives home. Everyone talks in hushed tones as if conscious of being overheard. Cruz is particularly soft spoken, imbuing Jenny with a kind of youthful purity, which is especially appropriate given the character’s religious upbringing. She never feels sheltered, though, thanks to a quick wit and frank admissions, like losing her virginity during the interval while she was starring in Cats.

Hauer-King plays Connor like a sad Dylan Efron, who although his life turns upside down more than once during the movie, is always quietly charming. Everyone here is an adult, but Hauer-King’s boyish approach to the material speaks to how the zillennial generation put off growing up until they are forced to. The Threesome deftly balances romantic ideals with reality’s hardships, never giving one more credence than the other. Deutch, whose work in Set It Up and Something From Tiffany’s makes her the go-to romcom star of our time, gets the grittier role, often teary and torn, confused about her place in life and the lives of those around her. She is still quippy, she still has perfect comic timing, but it is rewarding to see her rise to a more complex and demanding situation.

Because of the titular threesome’s unexpected consequences, tensions flow in every direction. The guilty party becomes wronged in the time it takes to accidentally read someone else’s phone screen. There is so much potential for blame: for not taking responsibility, for not being wholly honest, for each character not always committing to the role that is required of them. You are left with the feeling Hartigan values humanity’s ability to forgive and move towards a place of healing, given how often he asks this of his characters. 

But The Threesome delivers on the ‘com’ half of romcom too. Young-White, gifted with great dialogue, meets the quality of his lines, delivering gags with precision. He cuts the narrative tension, but his presence also reflects how comedy often comes from discomfort in life. What Connor, Olivia and Jenny need is to laugh and Greg’s humour is for them as much as it is for us, because that’s what friends are for. 

With The Threesome, Hartigan has another winner. By constantly throwing curveballs at his characters, he provides laughs, gasps, and moments in which everyone has to decide whether to hold on to their hurt or find a way through it. His film is messy like life is messy, and asks of us what it asks of its characters: to find our way back to each other even when that feels impossible. It’s much more than your typical romcom.

The Threesome will be released in US theatres on September 5, 2025.