Every single person behind Sophie Brooks, Oh, Hi!, should be ashamed of themselves. In the day and age of the Me Too Movement and raised awareness regarding consent and sexual assault, you would expect a film like Oh, Hi! to be a thing of a past. But sadly, Hollywood still treats sexual assault and the mistreatment of men at the hands of women as a joke. Which is especially surprising from self-proclaimed feminist Sophie Brooks and Molly Gordon who wrote this story. Not only are they hypocrites, but believe they are above the law because they are women.
We follow Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman) during their first romantic getaway as a couple. All seems to be going romantically splendid and kinky, until Isaac tells Iris that he is looking for something more casual, rather than a serious relationship. In her anger and frustration she keeps him chained to the bed, against his will, until he falls in love with her. During her attempts, she drugs him, gags him, makes him pee in a bowl, and who knows what else while he sleeps, all in a desperate attempt to make him fall in love with her. Based on this synopsis, you would expect this film to be a horror movie, similar to Rob Reiner’s Misery. Sadly, and horrifyingly, Oh, Hi! is a dark, romantic comedy about commitment issues and relationships.
Before I get too angry, let me at least acknowledge what Oh, Hi! gets right. At just 94 minutes, the film moves at a brisk pace and never overstays its welcome. I also give it credit for tackling themes like the emotional fallout of divorce on children—how it can leave them afraid of commitment, terrified of repeating that same pain. And yes, Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman are both genuinely good here; their steamy, chaotic energy brings a spark that makes parts of this movie watchable. But that’s about where the praise ends, because Oh, Hi!’s real problem lies in its story.
You don’t need to be a social worker to understand that if the roles were reversed, where a man chained a woman to a bed against her will until she “falls in love” with him, it would be a horror film. And rightfully so. Framing that scenario as a comedy would be immediately flagged as disturbing, and it wouldn’t get within a mile of studio funding. So why, exactly, is Oh, Hi! being presented as a quirky relationship comedy instead of the horror story it actually is? We know why. Because even now, Hollywood still treats sexual assault against men, especially when the perpetrator is a woman, as some kind of twisted punchline. And it’s disgusting.
There’s a reason Misery works. It works because it understands exactly what it is, a horror film about a deranged fan holding her favorite author hostage. Simple. Terrifying. Effective. Brooks and Gordon, on the other hand, completely missed the point with Oh, Hi!. Instead of recognizing the horror at the core of their premise, they decided to repackage it as a quirky dark comedy about relationships and “situationships.” But let’s be clear: this story does not work as a comedy. The only way you find Oh, Hi! funny is if you think sexual assault against men is a joke. And if that’s your idea of humor, you should be ashamed of yourself. Seriously. Go read the stories of male survivors who have watched this film in horror as their trauma is played for laughs. Their pain is real. Their fear is real. And this film spits in their face.
Everyone involved in Oh, Hi! should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. We already live in a society that struggles to acknowledge that women can be perpetrators of physical and sexual violence, and this film makes that even worse. It doesn’t just fail male victims; it outright mocks them. It belittles their trauma, reduces it to a punchline, and then has the audacity to wrap it all up with a neat little bow where he forgives her, because, apparently, his real issue is that he has commitment problems. Are you kidding me? Yes, he’s an asshole. Yes, he has baggage from his parents’ divorce. But that does not justify what happens to him. He didn’t deserve this. No one does. And she should be in jail, full stop. The fact that this is being played for laughs is not just tone-deaf, it’s morally bankrupt.
My Rating: D
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