Lock Him Down, Literally: Why This ‘Romantic Comedy' Is Holding the Genre Hostage
Molly Gordon just kidnapped Logan Lerman in a rom-com—and Film Twitter is SCREAMING.
In the new trailer for Oh Hi!, a Tribeca-bound indie that's part 500 Days of Summer and part Misery (yes, the Stephen King one), we meet Iris—sweet, smiley, increasingly unhinged Iris. She's found the perfect guy. Problem? He says it's a “situationship.” So she locks him in a rustic farmhouse to… change his mind.
Yep. This isn't just a meet-cute gone rogue. It's emotional warfare disguised as a summer weekend.
This Isn't Just a Quirky Indie. It's Genre Sabotage.
Here's the uncomfortable truth: Oh, Hi! might be the most honest rom-com of the decade.
Why? Because it stops pretending that unreciprocated love is cute. It isn't. It's chaos. The trailer doesn't blink when Iris shifts from lovestruck to full-blown delulu. It leans in. And maybe, just maybe, we've been craving a movie that says: “Hey, modern dating is actually terrifying.”
One savage detail? The trailer ends with a padlock—clipped shut like it's sealing a romantic coffin.
This is Girls meets Gone Girl if Lena Dunham had a panic button and Gillian Flynn said, “Hold my wine.”
Unpacking the Madness: When Love Gets Unfunny
Indie director Sophie Brooks (remember The Boy Downstairs? No? Exactly.) uses Oh, Hi! to dissect the pathology of obsession wrapped in pastel aesthetics.
And it's not new. Remember Sleeping with Other People? Or Obvious Child? Indie rom-coms have dabbled in dysfunction. But Oh, Hi! flips it completely: the dysfunction is the story. No healing arcs. No redemption montage. Just one woman spiraling and a guy realizing that being “nice” isn't enough when you're trapped in a barn.
A Sundance reviewer described it as “not really romantic”—and that's the point. It's the anti-Valentine's card with a zip tie.
So—Cringe or Canon?
Genius or garbage? You decide.
Is Oh, Hi! exposing the rot under the dating-app gloss—or just feeding into the chaos? Either way, Sony Pictures Classics releasing this on July 25 feels like a trap disguised as date night.
Would you watch this or burn $20? No judgment. (…Okay, some judgment.)
