''Private Life'' is a 2018 American
comedy-drama film written and directed by
Tamara Jenkins
Tamara Jenkins (born May 2, 1962) is an American filmmaker and occasional actress. She is best known for her feature films ''Slums of Beverly Hills'' (1998), '' The Savages'' (2007), and ''Private Life'' (2018).
Early life
Jenkins was born in ...
, and starring,
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...
and
Kathryn Hahn
Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...
, with
Kayli Carter
Kayli Carter (born July 8, 1993) is an American actress. She portrayed Sadie Rose in the Netflix western TV series '' Godless'', and Amber McCarden in the movie '' Bad Education'', opposite Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney. Her role in ''Priva ...
,
Molly Shannon
Molly Helen Shannon (born September 16, 1964) is an American actress and comedian who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2001. In 2017, she won the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ...
,
John Carroll Lynch
John Carroll Lynch (born August 1, 1963) is an American character actor and film director. He first gained notice for his role as Norm Gunderson in '' Fargo'' (1996). He is also known for his television work on the ABC sitcom '' The Drew Carey ...
,
Desmin Borges
Desmin Borges (born 1983/1984) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Edgar Quintero on the FX/FXX comedy-drama ''You're the Worst''.
Borges grew up in Chicago and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater at DePaul University. ...
, and
Denis O'Hare
Denis Patrick Seamus O'Hare (born January 17, 1962) is an American actor, singer, and author noted for his award-winning performances in the plays '' Take Me Out'' and ''Sweet Charity'', as well as portraying vampire king Russell Edgington on HB ...
in supporting roles. The film focuses on Richard and Rachel, a middle-aged married couple of New York City creatives, who are desperately trying to have a child by any means possible.
The film had its world premiere on January 18 at the
Sundance Film Festival. It was released on October 5, 2018, by
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
.
Plot
Richard and Rachel are a middle-aged couple desperately trying to have a child. After multiple failed attempts at
artificial insemination
Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment ...
, they attempt
in vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...
. The couple learn that Richard has a blockage that is not letting him produce sperm, forcing him to undergo a surgery that puts him $10,000 in debt to his brother Charlie and his wife Cynthia. At the same time they are also attempting to
adopt a child after connecting with a supposedly pregnant teenager from
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
who was looking to give up her child but then stopped contact.
After the IVF fails, their doctor floats the idea of using a donor egg to implant in Rachel, raising their chances of success from 4 to 65 percent. Rachel is initially against it, but slowly begins to consider it with Richard's encouragement.
Meanwhile, their 25-year-old niece, Sadie, decides to leave her college writing program to finish ''in absentia'' and go live in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
with Richard and Rachel, with whom she is already very close. Rachel, who struggled with the idea of an unknown egg donor, decides to ask Sadie for her eggs. To their surprise, Sadie quickly agrees, both because she loves Richard and Rachel and because she thinks the egg donation will bring meaning to her life.
At Thanksgiving dinner, Sadie informs her family that she will be donating her egg to Richard and Rachel, much to her mother's chagrin. Despite the fact that Richard and Rachel tell Cynthia they will not go through with the donation without her consent, they decide to go through with pre-screening.
Richard, Rachel and Sadie happily go through the egg donor treatments together, but Sadie is told at an appointment that she is not developing eggs quickly enough. Determined not to let Richard and Rachel down, she increases her drug dosage on her own. The egg retrieval is a success, but Sadie becomes ill. Richard and Rachel take her to the hospital, where they learn of the increased dosage. Sadie moves out of their apartment.
Richard and Rachel go through with the implantation, but it is a failure. While Rachel is devastated, Richard admits to being relieved that they are finally done with trying as their marriage and intimacy have suffered.
Sometime later, they drop Sadie off at the
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March  ...
colony, where she will take up a residency as a writer. She thanks Rachel for her help getting in, but Rachel informs her she did nothing to aid her application and that Sadie did it all on her own.
Nine months later, Richard and Rachel receive a call from another woman looking at them as potential parents to adopt her child. They drive to a restaurant, where they wait to meet the woman. Richard moves from his usual opposite seat and sits next to Rachel to hold her hand.
Cast
*
Kathryn Hahn
Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...
as Rachel Biegler
*
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...
as Richard Grimes
*
Kayli Carter
Kayli Carter (born July 8, 1993) is an American actress. She portrayed Sadie Rose in the Netflix western TV series '' Godless'', and Amber McCarden in the movie '' Bad Education'', opposite Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney. Her role in ''Priva ...
as Sadie Barrett
*
Molly Shannon
Molly Helen Shannon (born September 16, 1964) is an American actress and comedian who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2001. In 2017, she won the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ...
as Cynthia Grimes
*
Denis O'Hare
Denis Patrick Seamus O'Hare (born January 17, 1962) is an American actor, singer, and author noted for his award-winning performances in the plays '' Take Me Out'' and ''Sweet Charity'', as well as portraying vampire king Russell Edgington on HB ...
as Dr. Dordick
*
Emily Robinson
Emily Robinson (born October 18, 1998) is an American actress, director and producer.
Biography
Robinson began her career modeling at age six after her neighbor introduced her to Ford Models who then represented her. At the age of seven, Robin ...
as Charlotte Grimes
*
John Carroll Lynch
John Carroll Lynch (born August 1, 1963) is an American character actor and film director. He first gained notice for his role as Norm Gunderson in '' Fargo'' (1996). He is also known for his television work on the ABC sitcom '' The Drew Carey ...
as Charlie Grimes
*
Desmin Borges
Desmin Borges (born 1983/1984) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Edgar Quintero on the FX/FXX comedy-drama ''You're the Worst''.
Borges grew up in Chicago and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater at DePaul University. ...
as Sam
*
Francesca Root-Dodson as Fiona
*
Siobhan Fallon Hogan
Siobhan Fallon Hogan (pronounced , born May 13, 1961) is an American actress and comedian. She has appeared in films such as ''Men in Black'', '' Forrest Gump'', ''The Negotiator'', ''Holes'', ''Daddy Day Care'', ''Going in Style'', and '' The Ho ...
as Beth
Production
On January 4, 2017, it was reported that
Kathryn Hahn
Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...
would star in the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
film, ''Private Life'', written and directed by
Tamara Jenkins
Tamara Jenkins (born May 2, 1962) is an American filmmaker and occasional actress. She is best known for her feature films ''Slums of Beverly Hills'' (1998), '' The Savages'' (2007), and ''Private Life'' (2018).
Early life
Jenkins was born in ...
. On January 31, 2017,
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...
joined the cast. On March 16, 2017, it was reported that
Molly Shannon
Molly Helen Shannon (born September 16, 1964) is an American actress and comedian who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2001. In 2017, she won the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ...
,
Emily Robinson
Emily Robinson (born October 18, 1998) is an American actress, director and producer.
Biography
Robinson began her career modeling at age six after her neighbor introduced her to Ford Models who then represented her. At the age of seven, Robin ...
,
John Carroll Lynch
John Carroll Lynch (born August 1, 1963) is an American character actor and film director. He first gained notice for his role as Norm Gunderson in '' Fargo'' (1996). He is also known for his television work on the ABC sitcom '' The Drew Carey ...
,
Kayli Carter
Kayli Carter (born July 8, 1993) is an American actress. She portrayed Sadie Rose in the Netflix western TV series '' Godless'', and Amber McCarden in the movie '' Bad Education'', opposite Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney. Her role in ''Priva ...
, and
Francesca Root-Dodson would also play roles in the film. As of March 17, 2017,
principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
had begun in
White Plains, New York
(Always Faithful)
, image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png
, seal_link =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State
, su ...
.
Denis O'Hare
Denis Patrick Seamus O'Hare (born January 17, 1962) is an American actor, singer, and author noted for his award-winning performances in the plays '' Take Me Out'' and ''Sweet Charity'', as well as portraying vampire king Russell Edgington on HB ...
and
Desmin Borges
Desmin Borges (born 1983/1984) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Edgar Quintero on the FX/FXX comedy-drama ''You're the Worst''.
Borges grew up in Chicago and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater at DePaul University. ...
subsequently joined the film as well.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the
Sundance Film Festival on January 18. It also screened at the
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...
on October 1, 2018. Netflix released ''Private Life'' on October 5, 2018, both in a limited theatrical bow and on its service.
Reception
Critical response
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critics consensus reads, "''Private Life'' uses one couple's bumpy journey to take an affecting look at an easily identifiable – and too rarely dramatized – rite of adult passage." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film holds a rating of 83 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."
Accolades
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Private Life
2018 films
2018 comedy-drama films
2018 independent films
American comedy-drama films
American independent films
American pregnancy films
English-language Netflix original films
Fertility medicine
Films about adoption
Films about writers
Films directed by Tamara Jenkins
Films set in Arkansas
Films set in New York City
Films shot in New York (state)
Films with screenplays by Tamara Jenkins
2010s English-language films
2010s American films