The Threesome (2025) Parents Guide

The Threesome is Rated R by Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for sexual material, language and brief drug use.

Movie Review – The Threesome (2025)

The Threesome sidles up like a stranger across the bar who can’t help but check you out and honestly, it’s hard not to be intrigued. Modern dating, after all, is a far cry from the tidy chaos of the romcoms we grew up on. Those old-school love stories thrived on mix-ups and near-misses exes resurfacing, jobs in distant cities, an overheard line that ruined everything until it didn’t. But this film plays with a more tangled thread: three strangers drawn together by a one-night fling that refuses to stay in the past.

To say too much would ruin the fun, because once the surprises start rolling, they barely let up. What you should know: Connor (Jonah Hauer-King) still carries a torch for Olivia (the reigning romcom darling, Zoey Deutch). She, however, is decidedly not interested. Enter Greg (the consistently scene-stealing Jaboukie Young-White), Connor’s bartender best friend, who hatches a scheme: if Connor turns his charm on Jenny (Ruby Cruz), a woman ditched on a date, maybe Olivia will get jealous. Naturally, the plan doesn’t go according to script. Drinks are poured, dancing happens, truth-or-dare escalates, and before long, the trio stumbles into the film’s title. What follows binds them together in ways none of them expect.

Though marketed as a romcom, director Chad Hartigan guides the film toward something more intimate a tender indie dramedy wrapped in the aesthetics of quiet rooms and soft light. Conflicts simmer beneath hushed conversations in cluttered living rooms, car rides through the dark, and the liminal calm after babysitting gigs. Cruz, almost whisper-voiced as Jenny, brings an innocence that resonates with her character’s religious background, yet she avoids feeling naïve. She’s sharp, candid, even funny in unexpected ways—like her deadpan admission of losing her virginity backstage during Cats.

Hauer-King’s Connor feels like a melancholic Dylan Efron, navigating repeated upheavals with a charm that suggests someone still learning adulthood on the fly—a hallmark of his zillennial cohort. The film never tips into cynicism, instead striking a delicate balance between dreamy ideals and harsh realities. Deutch, so often the breezy, wisecracking lead of Set It Up or Something from Tiffany’s, digs into something thornier here. She’s still funny, still sharp, but there’s a rawness to her confusion and grief that pushes her beyond the romcom box she’s usually handed.

Inevitably, that impulsive threesome turns into a breeding ground for tension. Loyalties shift, guilt curdles into blame, and one stolen glance at a phone screen can flip the power dynamic entirely. Hartigan seems fascinated by these fragile fault lines how dishonesty, half-truths, and failures to step up erode trust, and how forgiveness, however reluctant, might rebuild it.

Of course, it’s not all angst. The “com” in romcom is alive and well, thanks to Young-White, whose precision with punchlines defuses the film’s heaviest moments. His Greg isn’t just comic relief; he embodies how humor emerges from discomfort, how friends lighten the burden when it gets too heavy. His jokes land for the characters as much as for us.

In the end, The Threesome isn’t content with being just another romcom. Hartigan lobs curveballs at his characters, delivering both big laughs and quiet heartbreak, while never losing sight of the larger question: can people find their way back to one another after mistakes, even monumental ones? It’s messy, tender, funny, and very human the way real love stories usually are.

The Threesome (2025) Parents Guide

Violence:  Rating Mild: No gunfights, no swords, no blood-splattering theatrics. The occasional tiff, maybe some raised voices, but that’s about it. Realistic? Barely. Memorable? Only because your jaw might drop at the emotional fallout, not the physical damage. No kid-taming drama just relational bruises.

Language: Rating Moderate:  Expect a few F-bombs, some salty jokes, maybe a “damn” or two. Not nonstop, but definitely enough to remind you, yeah, these are adults with emotional boundaries and zero filter.

Sexual Content & Nudity:  Rating Moderate: This movie dives headfirst into the “adult not erotic art” pool. There’s a full-blown threesome (surprise!), whispered fumbling in dim rooms, and yes, bodies in at least partial view but nothing that would’ve triggered an NC-17 stamp. It’s suggestive, messy, and comes with that weird afterglow of regret. If your kid is curious about how complicated grown-up intimacy can be vinegar and sweetness mixed this shows it off unflinchingly.

Substance Use / Drugs & Smoking Rating: Mild: It’s brief. More hangover vibes than trip-of-a-lifetime. Nothing to write home about.

Director: Chad Hartigan
Genre: Rom-Com, Drama
Run Time: 112′
Rated: R
U.S. Release: September 5, 2025
U.K. Release: TBA
Where to Watch: In U.S. Theaters

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