The story centers around Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Don (Tobias Menzies), a New York couple who have been together for years. Beth is a writer who teaches literature. She seems to be in the shoes of her own students in her spare time: she worries about the level of a new draft and waits for the coveted approval (as well as an advance payment) from the publisher. Her husband, Don, is a psychotherapist who has trouble at work. So, some quarrelsome co-patients suddenly band together to return all the money spent on therapy, and another client suffering from their relatives starts cursing the specialist rather than the hated relatives. As a result, both other people’s dissatisfaction and self-dissatisfaction accumulate in Don.
Beth and Don also have a son named Elliot who is working on his first game. The young man is very angry that his parents believed in his abilities for no reason – he needs an objective assessment, not encouragement, from loved ones on duty. The urgent need for honesty becomes the cause of the disagreement of the couple himself. Beth accidentally learns that Don doesn’t like her new book, but she can’t say it directly. An unpleasant discovery plunges Beth into an abyss of emotion in which her books’ characters are often drowned – despair, resentment, and anger. The heroes themselves find themselves facing a test – real and midlife crisis.
“You hurt my feelings” is another gift from the A24 film company, the main venue of modern auteur cinema. For example, Ari Aster (“The Solstice”, “Bo’s All Fears”) and Robert Eggers (Lighthouse, Witch). And it was the A24 hit “Everything Everywhere and At Once” that became the leader of the last Oscar and eventually brought original cinema back to the fore.
At the same time, “You Hurt My Feelings” is more like HBO’s invention. In particular, the spin-off of the Sex and the City series, which is just a healthy person – here as Carrie prepares for the release of her next book, she would learn that her husband was not a big fan of her work, and Mr. Big would have one foot in the existential crisis. In addition, there is a Woody Allen narrative and New York atmosphere. The result is a spiritual drama in which every viewer over the age of 30 can easily find something of his own.
Film director Nicole Holofcener and socially significant after the dark “The Last Duel” “Extrapolations” With a new project, he has completely returned to the theme of his favorite heroes on the verge of a nervous breakdown (his latest series of Lucky Hank with Bob Odenkirk was also filmed by him). Holofcener does not like the fuss on the screen, preferring the spiritual inner dynamics of the characters to this. In “You Hurt My Feelings” there is no place for eccentric scandals and curses (Don’s very greedy wives-patients are the exception), and all his problems are resolved here, as it should be for an adult – in a friendly conversation. .
Thanks to the chosen intonation, the tape itself turns into a calm therapeutic session without editing. It shows that marriage is a living and constantly changing organism. And finding a harmless white lie in your relationship isn’t all that scary, it’s much more scary to realize that you’ve completely forgotten how to talk to each other.
The finale of the picture encourages and reconciles almost everyone with everyone. Beth and Don overcome family and personal crises, albeit unexpectedly. Also, most of his inner fears are in vain. After all, even if some patients bill you, there are always people who will be grateful for your help. Or if your literary agent (and husband) doesn’t like your new draft, perhaps you should change publishers but not fool yourself.
In many ways, questions about how to get yourself out of a midlife crisis when the same confused and devastated spouse is nearby are rhetorical. But the filmmakers, if not a clear answer, at least have an approximate guideline for escaping the chaos of life with those looking in the same direction as you (or at least sitting on the same antidepressants).