REVIEW: ‘You Hurt My Feelings’ a breath of fresh air
The simple story of a week in a family’s life
July 10, 2023
I saw this movie on a whim because I am a huge fan of the starring actress, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Her characters in “Seinfeld,” “Veep” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” are all fun and very memorable.
The only piece of marketing I saw for “You Hurt My Feelings” before I actually watched it was Louis-Dreyfus’ interview on the YouTube show “Hot Ones.” I decided to give it a shot and ended up really enjoying it.
I had a moment of horror sitting down in the movie theater when I saw that the production company for the movie was A24, the same company that did “Hereditary” and “Midsommar,” so I thought this movie might take a random turn for the terrifying. Spoiler alert, it does not.
This was one of the most ordinary movies that I have ever seen, and I do not mean that with a negative connotation. In a way, this was one of the most beautiful movies that I have ever seen.
It tells the story of an author, played by Louis-Dreyfus, overhearing her husband say that her latest book is not very good. While I do not think that couples having an argument is a beautiful thing, the storytelling in this movie is really well done.
In terms of plot, there are not a whole lot of major plot points, just the main character Beth going about her life over the span of what I would guess is four or five days.
As mentioned previously, she is an author, but she also teaches a writing class and volunteers for the church with her sister.
Her husband is a therapist and mentions that he does not particularly like Beth’s new book while out shopping for socks with his brother-in-law. Beth and her sister are sneaking up behind the two to surprise them when she overhears him admit his dislike of the book.
“You Hurt My Feelings” explores the day-to-day aspects of relationships, marriage and parenthood. There were no supervillain fights, time travel or any other tropes that are commonly found in today’s movies. There is no sequel, prequel or extended universe; “You Hurt My Feelings” just tells the story of a week in this family’s life.
The bulk of the movie is about processing a loved one not liking your work, taking space to let your feelings heal and then letting them back into your heart.
While this might not be a movie that I watch again for a while, I enjoyed my time watching it in the theater. It was definitely one of the most human movies that I have ever seen. I normally like the action-packed thrillers that modern-day cinema is flooded with, but taking a step back and a deep breath by watching this movie was nice.
It was interesting to watch a movie that I knew was not going to be a box office hit and did not have any real aspirations to be. I do not think that “You Hurt My Feelings” set out with the plan of toppling “Avengers: Endgame” as the highest-grossing movie of all time, but it set out to tell a story that we all can relate to in some way.