You Hurt My Feelings

Netflix is already cranking out the original films this year. You Hurt My Feelings is one of their 3-4 releases that came out in January this year. Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus the comedy is added to the list of streaming service films that have some relatively big names. We are rapidly approaching the time where streaming service films are going to be eligible for awards without a theatrical screening. Streaming services have been producing more high quality content, with higher caliber actors so it is only a matter of time.

Well we have a couple that’s in the middle of counseling….that’s fun. And an interesting way to start a story. Then we have an author who runs a writing class and that first scene is fucking hilarious. The story seems to focus on her. Her marriage seems obscenely happy, which in movies means that it is about to blow up.

Her husband is a therapist. That is going to come into play here. The vibes of this movie is very much like an independent, film festival kind of film. I appreciate that. Most of the films Netflix has come out with lately have felt very cheap. It’s often rushed and the writing is subpar. This film however feels a lot more emotionally connected.

Yup. She overhears her husband telling a friend that he doesn’t like her new book. To an author that is a shot to the heart. From your spouse? Who already told you he liked the book? AND read multiple drafts? Oooof….i’d lose it. She does in fact lose it. A full downward spiral transpires because as writers our work is so tied to who we are. So she starts questioning her whole marriage.

This is definitely what I call a quieter film. There is interpersonal tension, but there isn’t necessarily action. I love these movies. Internal character studies are so much more my thing than anything else. The film is also doing a pretty good job of balancing character perspectives. Obviously the film is about our author but we also see the perspectives of those that surround her. We follow her husband, we see from her son and her friends. I think that is a great way to inform the context that surrounds her and thus her writing. You get a sense of her other obligations, pressures and her support system.

She then realizes that her writing class has absolutely no idea who she is. And that none of them have read her work at all. So this is the second pretty big blow to her ego.

At its core this movie is about self-doubt, not being happy or fully content with your life choices. I think it's a great film about perspective and how you view yourself and your art. This is the most not only emotionally connected film that Netflix has ever produced, but it's also the most artistic. Genuinely, especially as an artist, this film is so worth the watch.

It also does a great job of exploring how people handle relationships and criticism. It adds a really interesting dynamic to the artistic stuff because often the people around you can be the only ones to pull you out of a doubt spiral, but what happens when they are the ones that cause it but they genuinely love you?

You Hurt My Feelings really does a great job of balancing the emotional and the comedy. It's so real, the emotional parts of the story are very raw. I think that this is a much watch for anyone that likes quieter movies but it's definitely a must watch for artists of any kind. By the end of the film everyone kind of figures out where they need to be and it's just really beautiful. I think the film was great, I give it a very solid 9/10.