Dir. Olivia Wilde · 2026 · 107 min · streaming on HBO Max from 23 October (US)
Joe and Angela are a married couple in San Francisco whose evenings have turned into arguments. Angela has invited their upstairs neighbours, Pina and Hawk, to dinner, partly to be liked and partly because the noise that comes through the ceiling at night has become a running grievance between her and Joe. The neighbours arrive while the couple are still mid-quarrel. That is the whole premise: one apartment, four people, one dinner.
The script is by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones, adapted from Cesc Gay's Spanish stage play and the 2020 film made from it. Seth Rogen and Wilde play the hosts; Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz play the upstairs pair. It premiered at Sundance in January 2026 and reached cinemas through A24 in the summer.
Critics are warmest on the cast and the writing. JoBlo's Chris Bumbray calls it a return to form for Wilde and singles out Norton and Cruz as a pleasure in lighter roles. AwardsWatch gives it an A and praises the opening argument and the ensemble's chemistry, while The Nightly rates it four out of five as a very funny comedy best enjoyed with a crowd. WBUR's Sean Burns, the most guarded of the five, still likes the long middle stretch and calls Norton the standout.
A film confined to one set depends on the room, and reviewers credit the production design and the camerawork for keeping it visually alive. Samantha Allen, writing in Out, goes furthest: she calls it the best film of the summer and says Wilde's blocking keeps the evening moving.
The problem is that the movie isn’t content to just be hilarious
Sean Burns, WBUR
That quote is the split in a nutshell. Burns finds Wilde's early direction overbearing, thinks Rogen's performance lacks range, and feels the film loses its comic momentum when it turns earnest. The Nightly finds it a little long and the ending somewhat heavy-handed. Several of the rave reviews raise no objections at all, so treat the film as a crowd-pleaser with a divided second half rather than a consensus classic.
Tap what sounds like your evening:
Anyone who liked stage-bound comedies of manners, and anyone curious whether Wilde has recovered from her last feature. If you want pure farce all the way through, the more mixed reviews suggest the film does not stay there.
A24 and Warner Bros. Discovery announce it for HBO Max in the United States from 23 October, with a TV airing on HBO the next evening. It opened in UK cinemas in July and reached digital rental in August, according to published release listings. Availability varies by country, so check your own services before you plan the evening.
Sources: reviews by JoBlo, WBUR, AwardsWatch, The Nightly and Out; the HBO Max announcement.