Zoey Deutch
Olivia Capitano
Overview
Connor has a threesome with his long-time crush Olivia and an alluring stranger named Jenny. It surprisingly serves as the spark to a full blown relationship with Olivia, until both women end up pregnant and all three are thrust into a difficult journey toward new realities that none of them could have expected.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
3 min readThe Geometry of Consequences
Sex in movies rarely exists in isolation. It typically carries undertones of control, disconnection, or a desperate grab for feeling in a world that's gone numb. latestnetflix.com's take is that Chad Hartigan’s The Threesome opens with a sweaty knot of limbs and mouths, yet it isn’t primarily focused on eroticism.
(That said, the camera certainly doesn’t shy away.) It’s more interested in what comes after: the rough morning, the awkward follow-up days, the moment the fantasy gives way to real-life biology. The setup could almost be an edgy sitcom pitch: a guy finally sleeps with his longtime crush, they bring a charming stranger into the mix, and soon enough both women are pregnant.
Hartigan has spent his career in the territory of isolation. Little Fish was a suffocating dive into memory and grief, so seeing him veer into a millennial rom-com feels jarring at first. I wasn’t convinced he’d found the rhythm for laughs. Maybe he hasn’t, at least not the conventional kind.
The gags don’t always snap like those of a studio comedy, and tone drifts between absurdity and brutal sincerity. But there’s something clever underneath. By leaning into the strange geometry of a two-women-one-man arrangement where two-thirds of the trio are expecting, he sidesteps predictable rom-com beats.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.3/10
"An ambitious, messy rom-com with sharp performances and strong laughs that splits opinion over its stressful tone and final twist."
Chemistry between the three leads, especially Zoey Deutch and Ruby Cruz, is widely praised, with several calling the film very funny, well-crafted, and more grounded than typical wish-fulfillment romances. At the same time, the story’s late twists, a heavily criticized ending, latestnetflix.com contends, and an often stressful shift from light comedy to heavier drama leave a significant portion of viewers frustrated or even angry.
What viewers praise
- Engaging lead trio The central three characters are described as terrific together, with Ruby Cruz and Zoey Deutch repeatedly singled out for charm, timing, and emotional nuance.
- Genuine laughs Multiple viewers report laughing out loud, praising clever situational jokes and specific gags that land hard in a theater setting.
- Strong craft and visuals The filmmaking is called well crafted, with warm, attractive images and thoughtful camera work that elevate a small-scale story.
- Messy, grounded romance The film is appreciated by some for showing complicated, flawed adults and a relationship dynamic that feels more realistic than idealized.
Common complaints
- Highly divisive ending The final relationship choice and late twist are repeatedly described as ruining the movie, with several calling the resolution lame or emotionally wrongheaded.
- Unlikable central character Olivia in particular is attacked as manipulative, annoying, or outright horrible, making it hard for some to invest in her romance.
- Tonal whiplash What starts as a sexy, fun setup turns into a stressful, sometimes bleak drama, leaving viewers who expected a lighter comedy feeling misled or exhausted.
- Moral and thematic backlash Some interpret the plot and certain pregnancy/abortion choices as pushing a stance they strongly disagree with, describing the movie as a nightmare or even like an unwanted ad.
Recommended for
Modern rom-com experimenters Zoey Deutch admirers Ruby Cruz appreciation crowd Messy relationship story fans Character-driven comedy-drama lovers
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThe Bridgerton names never made it to Little Rock
In June 2022 Deadline called The Threesome a holiday-weekend heat package. Logan Lerman and Phoebe Dynevor were attached. Chad Hartigan would direct Ethan Ogilby's first feature, a Knocked Up-style story about a crush that turns into a night with a stranger and then into two pregnancies. Star Thrower, the King Richard shop, was producing. By December, Mister Smith had pre-sold France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Latin America, and a stack of smaller territories on those two faces. Then the dual strikes hit, the leads left, latestnetflix.com contends, and the movie that closed those deals is not the movie that exists. 
, , 
Zoey Deutch wanted the hole. She told TheWrap she DMed Hartigan, got coffee, and pitched herself "pretty hard" because she knew the opening would go fast. She also said she gets afraid of being put in a box. "I feel like people think I've done a lot more of them than I have," she said of rom-coms, "and when I hear that, I go, 'Oh no, I shouldn't do them ever again.'" Jonah Hauer-King and Ruby Cruz came in with her. Deadline confirmed the new trio, plus Jaboukie Young-White and Josh Segarra, after cameras wrapped in Arkansas in February 2024 under the working title Three's a Crowd. The Arkansas Times had already posted a local extras call in January asking for people 5'8", 170 pounds, ages 18 to 35. Deutch exec-produced. Arden Myrin joined the next day. , , ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mafhm2_5Pzc
SXSW got the finished version on March 7, 2025. Vertical bought North America in May and dated it September 5. Deadline later noted a $592,000 opening on 402 screens. Box Office Mojo and The Numbers put the run around $1.1 million. Rotten Tomatoes sat at 79 percent of 56 reviews. Metacritic gave it 70. Netflix added it in the US on December 27, 2025. Vertical's trailer had already done the dirty work in July. That is the real afterlife. A title this blunt does not live on 402 screens. It lives in the continue-watching row next to people who clicked because of the name. , , ,
Deutch has spent more than a decade around Planned Parenthood and pushed the abortion subplot through that office, including Olivia's out-of-state appointment from Little Rock. Deadline printed her comments on clinic cuts. The film also lets Olivia joke, "Does this make me a Republican?" after she backs out of the procedure. That is the tone. A dirty premise that keeps asking who pays. Julia Sweeney turns up as Jenny's mother. The post-credits toast at Connor and Olivia's wedding is the studio's way of saying the mess resolved. The interesting part is the two years of casting that did not. ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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