The Overnight

Characters: the blond on the left is Charlotte, the
man being groped is Alex (Emily's husband), the
man looking at Alex lustfully is Kurt (Charlotte's
husband), and the other blond with a look of confused
disgust is Emily. 

Those who have seen this movie may not consider it to be a romantic comedy, but I would argue that it is. For one thing, it's damn funny; that takes care of the comedy part. But it also has the same elements that viewers are used to when watching rom-com: a beginning with a small problem (he he -- you'll get that later) but everything else is relatively fine; our main characters find themselves in a seemingly unreal situation that has the audience gasping for air; a fight ensues about said situation that then turns to discussing fundamental problems in the relationship; and the two decide that being together is better than being apart and they try to overcome their challenges.


The small (😆😆) problem

Emily and Alex are the main couple in the movie, and they have just moved to LA with their son and are eager to make friends in a new city. They seem to be the perfect couple, and they would be, if it wasn't for Alex's abnormally small dick.





Emily tells him throughout the movie that his size never mattered to her, but just look at the thing
←  clearly, it would matter!!!





(There is an awesome interview where Adam Scott, who plays Alex, talks about the tiny prosthetic penis he had to wear for the movie here.)


The unreal situation

So as I said, Emily and Alex really want to make some new adult friends in LA, and they run into a man when they take their son to the park. This man, Kurt -- who's a fellow parent and not a creeper -- sees how well his son and theirs are getting along and invites them over for dinner that night with him and his wife Charlotte, to which Alex and Emily agree. The night starts off normal -- dinner, some dinks, and a few hits off a bong while the kids sleep upstairs. But then Kurt take Alex to the garage to show him his paintings, and that's when stuff starts to get weird:

Emily then walks in as Kurt is about to convince Alex to be one of his "models", and she tries to convince him to leave. They don't, and it gets weirder.


The fight

After some skinny dipping, more drinking, existential break-throughs, and hand jobs, Emily once again walks in to see Charlotte giving Alex a massage . . . in a bedroom . . . with Alex only wearing a towel. A fight naturally ensues, in which both Emily and Alex admit that neither is completely happy with their sex life, despite repeated reassurances to the contrary, and both are curious about what it would be like to have sex with other people. Alex storms in a fit of insecurity-filled rage and asks Kurt (who, naturally, has a giant dick) if he wants to sleep with Emily. This leads Charlotte to blurt out that Kurt actually wants Alex, not Emily. An apologetic group hug then turns steamy as Alex and Kurt kiss, and with a nod of approval from Emily, the two couples begin to have a foursome -- only for the kids to wake up and interrupt them.


The reconciliation

Some time passes, and Alex and Emily are in the park again with their son, holding hands on a bench as they chat and watch kids play. All seems well with them, and once again they are the picture for the all-American couple. Kurt and Charlotte arrive to the park with their son, and the four have an awkward conversation with minimal eye contact. They make hesitant, flaky plans to have dinner one night -- at a restaurant this time -- then go over to their kids.

Gender

In some ways, the gender is addressed in this movie is pretty typical for rom-coms, even today. Kurt redesigned and rebuilt the house all by himself, his wife is a sexy mysterious foreigner, and Emily is the nagging wife who can't seem to let her husband have a good time. However, there are certain aspects of the movie that challenge gender roles; Alex is a stay-at-home dad and it's actually Charlotte's money from modeling that allows Kurt to pursue his "hobbies."

There is no doubt that this movie is absolutely outrageous, and watching it for the first time left me shocked, confused, and a little scared. But, if one looks deep, deep, deep down, there are some important social issues addressed: Western social stigma about polygamy, American rigidity about sex, body image, and so much more. While it may not seem like a romantic comedy in the traditional sense, The Overnight highlights some of the same controversies like a lot of the newer rom-coms do in a new and interesting light.