Love At First Sight (2023 Film)

''Love at First Sight'' is a 2023 American romantic comedy film directed by Vanessa Caswill and written by Katie Lovejoy, based upon the 2011 novel ''The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight'' by Jennifer E. Smith. It stars Haley Lu Richardson, Ben Hardy, Dexter Fletcher, Rob Delaney, Sally Phillips and Jameela Jamil. The film premiered on Netflix on September 15, 2023.

Plot

On December 21 at JFK Airport, the narrator introduces 20-year old Hadley Sullivan. An American student who is often late with an undercharged phone, Hadley just misses her flight to London and is rebooked on the next.

At a charging station, Hadley meets British 22-year old Yale student Oliver Jones, who lends her his charger. The two hit it off and agree to eat dinner together at the food court. Hadley explains she is flying to London for her dad Andrew's second wedding and is ambivalent about his decision to remarry only a few years after divorcing her mother. Oliver reveals he is studying statistical inference and conducting a not-specified research project. As he is carrying a garment bag, Hadley assumes he is also going to a wedding, which he does not contest.

After boarding, Hadley and Oliver part, but Oliver discovers his seat belt is broken, and he is moved to the seat next to Hadley. They spend the flight falling in love.

After landing, Oliver puts his phone number into Hadley's so she can text him, but it dies and she loses the number. With no way to find him, Hadley goes to the wedding, arriving right before it's due to start. Although still struggling with her father's decision to remarry, Hadley is struck by his fiancée Charlotte's kindness and consideration.

After the ceremony, Hadley overhears family friends telling Charlotte that they’ll be leaving early to attend a memorial service. After hearing some of the details, Hadley quickly realizes that Oliver has actually come to London to attend his mother’s memorial, not a wedding. Hadley spontaneously decides to go to the memorial as the wedding reception doesn't start for several hours.

Meanwhile, Oliver's brother Luther collects him at the airport to head to the Shakespeare-themed memorial. There, he reunites with his father Val, and his still-living mother Tessa, who is dying of terminal lung cancer and has decided to attend her own memorial. Oliver tells her he is unhappy she has decided not to undergo treatment, but Tessa points out that even with treatment she'll still die, and she would rather do so feeling like herself.

Hadley successfully finds the memorial service, where she meets Oliver's family. After overcoming her initial confusion over Tessa still being alive, she eventually finds Oliver.

Oliver is happy to see Hadley, and tries to downplay how he feels about his mother's death. When Hadley presses him to be honest and not use statistics to rationalize the situation, Oliver lashes out. Hadley awkwardly leaves, although Oliver apologizes, but they do not part on good terms.

After Hadley leaves, Oliver delivers Tessa's eulogy. In it, he confesses that he has attempted to measure his life in numbers to help make sense of his world. However, he cannot reduce his mother’s presence and meaning to simple statistics.

Hadley, meanwhile, realizes she forgot her backpack at the memorial and attempts to return to the wedding reception on foot, but gets lost. She borrows a phone and calls her dad, who comes to get her with Charlotte. Andrew commends Hadley for taking a chance and going to see Oliver, and provides her with closure over her feelings about his divorce from her mother. Andrew and Charlotte both apologize that their excitement to involve Hadley in their wedding unintentionally put pressure on her. Father and daughter reconcile and they all go to the reception together.

Following the memorial, Oliver's family teases him about Hadley, but Oliver insists it's futile to pursue her as the odds of their relationship working out are low. Having found Hadley's backpack, they find Andrew's wedding invitation inside and encourage Oliver to go see her. Val tells him that even if he had known that Tessa would eventually die of cancer, he wouldn't have done anything differently, and the family sets out to find Hadley.

Oliver tracks Hadley down at the reception and admits his three greatest fears: germs, the dark, and surprises, due to his mother's cancer diagnosis. She then gives him a happy surprise by kissing him. When Hadley asks Oliver what it is he's researching, he reveals it's the statistical probability of love at first sight.

The narrator then reveals that Hadley and Oliver will stay together for the rest of their lives, be married for 58 years, and have a daughter.

Cast

Production

In November 2020, Haley Lu Richardson joined the cast of the film, with Vanessa Caswill directing from a screenplay by Katie Lovejoy, based upon the 2011 novel ''The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight'' by Jennifer E. Smith, with Richardson also set to serve as an executive producer. In January 2021, Ben Hardy, Dexter Fletcher, Rob Delaney, Sally Phillips and Jameela Jamil joined the cast of the film, with principal photography beginning that same month.

Release

In April 2022, Netflix bought worldwide rights to the film. ''Love at First Sight'' premiered on Netflix on September 15, 2023.

Reception

On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100 based on reviews from 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average".

See also

* Love at first sight, the personal experience and literary trope

References

External links

*
* {{Netflix title

2020s American films
2020s English-language films
2023 directorial debut films
2023 films
2023 romantic comedy films
American aviation films
American romantic comedy films
English-language romantic comedy films
Netflix original films
Films based on American novels
Films based on romance novels
Films set in London