“I can’t help it, I can’t take things too seriously”: Nicole Holofcener on You Hurt My Feelings

You Hurt My Feelings is the new comedy-drama from writer-director Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said, Friends with Money), which takes as its central question the white lies people might tell their loved ones in order to be supportive. But is part of loving someone in fact being honest above all else? This question arises when New York writer Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) accidentally overhears her therapist husband, Don (Tobias Menzies), hating on her latest book – one that he ostensibly had been a fan of.

A great supporting cast (that includes Succession‘s Arian Moayed, plenty of neuroses and some crackling dialogue) brings an old-school quality to proceedings, reminding us that out-and-out comedies seem to be a rare breed these days, perhaps through fear of audience backlash in culture war-ridden society – but the ability to laugh at ourselves is a gift we shouldn’t give up on nor shy away from. Plus humour can be a great inroad to exploring the more knotty aspects of human behaviour that don’t necessarily have any neat answers.

We spoke to the filmmaker during Sundance London Film Festival about the inspiration behind her seventh feature, working with two contrasting, top-notch comedic actors for her leads, and how making comedy movies in a polarised world can be tricky yet more important than ever.

Sarah Bradbury

You Hurt My Feelings is released on Prime Video on 8^th August 2023.

Watch the trailer for You Hurt My Feelings here: