No Hard Feelings

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CAT'S PICK : ★ 7.4

The controversial and problematic plot of Jennifer Lawrence's upcoming film No Hard Feelings was outlined in the initial trailer, and subsequent trailers only emphasized the film's questionable themes and motivations. Jennifer Lawrence has been inescapable from the big screen ever since her debut in 2012's The Hunger Games. However, over the past few years, she has drastically reduced the amount of work she does, with No Hard Feelings being her first and possibly only film in 2023. Throughout the 2010s, Lawrence worked frequently, starring in multiple entries for major franchises like the Hunger Games and X-Men, and winning an Oscar for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook.

Maddie, played by Jennifer Lawrence and depicted in the movie No Hard Feelings as a relatably broke millennial, "dates" the son of a wealthy helicopter family in exchange for a new car so that she can continue working as an Uber driver. The family put the advertisement up on the internet in the hope of getting their introverted 19-year-old son out of his shell before he goes to college and tries to make his social life better. No Hard Feelings draws inspiration from the gross-out sex comedies of the early 2000s. However, Andrew Barth Feldman's Maddie's attempts to change and seduce Percy come across as sinister, uncomfortable, and problematic.

Although No Hard Feelings advertises itself as a sex comedy, the film's central themes of grooming and sexual harassment significantly outweigh its comedic elements. Maddie frequently uses sexual innuendo and her body to try to seduce Percy, who is clearly not interested, in a lot of the trailers, forcing Percy into non-consensual situations.