Poetic License (2025)
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2025-09 to 2026-08
A former therapist's new friendship with two college students creates unexpected romantic tension and threatens a long-standing brotherhood.
The story
Liz Cassidy, a former therapist and mother, moves with her family to a small college town after her husband, James, accepts a teaching position there. Struggling with the move and becoming increasingly distant from her teenage daughter, Dora, Liz begins auditing a poetry class at the local college. There she meets Ari Zimmer and Sam Solomon, two longtime best friends and college seniors with contrasting personalities and plans for their futures. Liz gradually forms a friendship with Ari and Sam, spending more time with them outside of class. As the three grow closer, both Ari and Sam develop romantic feelings for Liz, creating tension between the longtime friends.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Liz Cassidy, a former therapist and mother, moves with her family to a small college town after her husband, James, accepts a teaching position there. Struggling with the move and becoming increasingly distant from her teenage daughter, Dora, Liz begins auditing a poetry class at the local college. There she meets Ari Zimmer and Sam Solomon, two longtime best friends and college seniors with contrasting personalities and plans for their futures. Liz gradually forms a friendship with Ari and Sam, spending more time with them outside of class. As the three grow closer, both Ari and Sam develop romantic feelings for Liz. Their mutual attraction to her creates tension between the longtime friends, and their previously close relationship becomes increasingly competitive. Ari invites Liz to his apartment to spend time together, but Sam unexpectedly arrives and joins them. The three drink and take hallucinogens, spending the night together as their friendship deepens. Despite Ari and Sam’s growing attraction to Liz, neither crosses a romantic boundary with her. As Ari and Sam continue competing for Liz’s attention, their rivalry begins to damage their friendship, exposing tensions and insecurities between the two men as graduation approaches. Meanwhile, Dora becomes suspicious of Liz’s friendship with Ari and Sam, particularly after nearly encountering her mother at a college party. Sam’s girlfriend, Grace, also becomes uncomfortable with the friendship and questions why Sam and Ari are spending so much time with Liz. Liz eventually realizes that both Ari and Sam have developed feelings for her. She has difficult conversations with them about their attraction, while making clear that she does not intend to pursue a romantic relationship with either man. Despite the conflict caused by their feelings for Liz, Ari and Sam eventually reconcile and preserve their friendship.
- First release year
- 2025
- Runtime (minutes)
- 117
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Maude Apatow
- Writers
- Raffi Donatich · writer
- Cast and characters
- Leslie Mann · Liz Cassidy; Andrew Barth Feldman · Sam Soloman; Cooper Hoffman · Ari Zimmer; Nico Parker · Dora Cassidy; Maisy Stella · Grace Wilson; Method Man · James Cassidy; Martha Kelly · Professor Greta Ellis; Jake Bongiovi · Julian Bende
- Genres
- comedy
- Themes
- Friendship; Romantic Tension; Growing Up; Family Dynamics
- Tone and mood
- Nostalgic; Grounded; Natural; Raunchy; Warm
- Setting
- A small college town in the present day.
- Premise and plot tags
- Comedy; Coming-of-Age; Drama
- Content notes
- Hallucinogens
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the humor, natural performances, and chemistry between the lead actors, though some noted it was longer than necessary or felt generic.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 77 · scale: 100 · review count: 7
- Production trivia
- It was the first film produced by Jewelbox Pictures.; Maude Apatow adopted a collaborative filming approach from her father, Judd Apatow.; The production involved extensive improvisation and alternate takes.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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