• Consequence
  • Music
  • Film
  • TV
  • Heavy
Menu Consequence
Menu Shop Search Newsletter
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Live
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Contest
Advertisement
  • Film
  • Film Reviews

Sundance Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Learns the Cost of Honesty in the Hilarious You Hurt My Feelings

Writer-director Nicole Holofcener returns with another piercing, low-stakes dramedy about the lies we tell our loved ones

You Hurt My Feelings Review
B+

Directed by

  • Nicole Holofcener

Cast

  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tobias Menzies, Owen Teague, Arian Moayed, Jeannie Berlin

Studio

  • A24
Advertisement
Clint Worthington Follow
January 24, 2023 | 4:22pm ET

    This review is part of our coverage of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.


    The Pitch: At first blush, Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her husband Don (Tobias Menzies) are the picture of a healthy, collaborative middle-aged marriage. She’s an author with one undersold (but well-reviewed) book under her belt — a memoir about her “verbally abusive” father, which invites the grim question as to whether it would have sold better if her childhood had been worse — and he’s a therapist with a rapidly-waning interest in his prickly patients.

    Sure, Beth’s sister (Michaela Watkins) bristles against her fickle interior decorating clients, and their son (Owen Teague) is an unambitious manager at a local dispensary, but they seem pretty stable through all these first-world New York problems.

    Related Video

    That is, until one day, Beth accidentally overhears Don telling his brother-in-law (Arian Moayed) that he doesn’t like the new book she’s been working on. It cuts her to the quick; it’s just a book, but it’s deeply important to her that the person she’s with approve of her work. But knowing this secret information starts to unravel her sense of self, not to mention her marriage, as she has to figure out a way to move forward with this terrible knowledge.

    Advertisement

    I Had to Tell It: Nicole Holofcener’s films, with few exceptions, are charming, deceptively insightful fables about the little white lies we tell ourselves (and each other) just to get through the day. She’s a purveyor of the hilarious and achingly honest, building high drama out of the everyday textures of modern life, and You Hurt My Feelings is no different. In fact, it may well be one of her best works in a good long while.

    The topic of the day, such as it is, is disappointment — the expectations we set up for ourselves, and more importantly, others set up for us, and when they hit the brick wall of reality. For Beth, it’s the expectation that she’s a successful writer, also moonlighting as a writing professor for students she’d love more than anything to believe are drawn to their work. (Surprise, they’ve barely heard of her most well-known book.)

    Louis-Dreyfus, reuniting with Holofcener for the first time since Enough Said a decade ago, is predictably incredible, smart, and a bit too self-aware for her own good: Beth is a perfect channel for that Elaine-caliber befuddlement, that furrowed brow of confusion when something new and devastating happens to her. She’s warm and acerbic, often in the same sentence, and it’s always a joy to watch her work. Thank heaven Holofcener recognizes that her talents shouldn’t be restricted to the small screen.

    Advertisement

    You Hurt My Feelings Review

    You Hurt My Feelings (A24)

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
Advertisement

More on this topic

  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  • Nicole Holofcener
  • Sundance Film Festival
  • Tobias Menzies

Sign up for updates

Subscribe to our email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.

Advertisement

Popular Stories

adam scott boy meets world traumatic experience pod meets world

TV

Adam Scott Confronts Boy Meets World Cast About "Traumatic Experience" of Hug Snub

new order 2023 tour

Music

New Order Announce Spring 2023 Tour Dates

Advertisement

 Find Remedies for a Balanced Life. Shop all things Flower Lab, starting at $7.99!

Find Remedies for a Balanced Life. Shop all things Flower Lab, starting at $7.99!

Limp Bizkit

Heavy Consequence

The Bamboozle Festival 2023 Lineup: Limp Bizkit, Rick Ross, Papa Roach, Steve Aoki, Flyleaf and More

Netflix You people

Film

You People Review: Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill Star in a Funny and Refreshing Update of a Familiar Tale

Latest Stories

A-
Infinity Pool Review Alexander Skarsgard

Infinity Pool Sends You Down a Road of Hedonistic Excess (In a Good Way): Review

January 27, 2023

B+
Netflix You people

You People Review: Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill Star in a Funny and Refreshing Update of a Familiar Tale

January 27, 2023

B-
Jamojaya Rich Brian Sundance Review

Rich Brian Juggles Family, Music, and Culture in Jamojaya: Sundance Review

January 25, 2023

B-
Cat Person Review Nicholas Braun

The New Yorker Bad-Date Story Gets Frustratingly Literal in Cat Person: Sundance Review

January 25, 2023

B+
shortcomings review randall park

Randall Park's Shortcomings Playfully Pokes at the Arthouse World: Sundance Review

January 24, 2023

A-
theater camp review

Sundance Review: The Hilarious and Authentic Theater Camp Takes Center Stage

January 23, 2023

B+
Sometimes I Think About Dying Review

Sundance Review: Sometimes I Think About Dying Makes You Feel Like Living

January 23, 2023

B+
Magazine Dreams (Sundance) Jonathan Majors Sundance 2023

Sundance Review: Jonathan Majors Is Here to Pump You Up and Bum You Out in Magazine Dreams

January 22, 2023

Advertisement

News

  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Tours
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture

Reviews

  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews

Features

  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Cover Stories
  • Lists
  • Guides
  • CoSign
  • Song of the Week

Live

  • Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Photo Galleries
  • Music Instruments & Gear

Heavy

  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts

More

  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Wellness
  • Giveaways

Other sites

  • Heavy Consequence
  • Consequence Media
  • Modern Drummer
  • About
  • Privacy policy
  • Advertising
  • Work For Us
  • Terms
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Download our app

  • Get it on the App Store
  • Get it on Google Play
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Consequence
Current story

Sundance Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Learns the Cost of Honesty in the Hilarious You Hurt My Feelings

Menu Shop Search Newsletter
Consequence
News
  • News
  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Tours
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture
Reviews
  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews
Features
  • All Features
  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Cover Stories
  • Lists
  • Guides
  • CoSign
  • Song of the Week
Live
  • Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Photo Galleries
  • Music Instruments & Gear
Podcasts
  • The Opus
  • Kyle Meredith With...
  • Stanning BTS
  • The Story Behind the Song
  • The What
  • Going There with Dr. Mike
  • The Rome and Duddy Show
Videos
  • Interviews
  • Two for the Road
  • First Time I Heard
  • When I Made
  • Battle of the Bandmates
  • Peer 2 Peer
  • Essays
  • Fan Theories
Heavy
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts
  • Premieres
  • Culture
  • Beyond the Boys Club
  • Mining Metal
Shop
  • Shop
  • Giveaways

Follow Consequence

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Close
Close
 

Loading Comments...