''How to Talk to Girls at Parties'' is a 2017

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film directed by

John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is a two-time Tony Award winning American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is best known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film '' Hedwig and th ...

and written by

Philippa Goslett Philippa Goslett is a British screenwriter. She wrote ''Little Ashes'', a biopic about the relationship between a young Salvador Dalí (played by Robert Pattinson) and Federico García Lorca. It won the 2010 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film, ...

and Cameron Mitchell, based on the 2006 short story of the same name by

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gra ...

. The film stars

Elle Fanning Mary Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998) is an American actress. She made her film debut as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film '' I Am Sam'' (2001). As a child actress, she appeared in several films, i ...

Alex Sharp Alexander Ian Sharp (born 2 February 1989) is an English actor. He is known for originating the role of Christopher Boone in the Broadway production of '' The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time''. After graduating from the Juilliard ...

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

Ruth Wilson Ruth Wilson (born 13 January 1982) is an English actress. She is known for her performances as the eponymous protagonist in ''Jane Eyre'' (2006), as Alice Morgan in the BBC psychological crime drama ''Luther'' (2010–2013, 2019), as Alison L ...

and

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...

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 ...

began on 9 November 2015, in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

. The film had its world premiere at the

2017 Cannes Film Festival The 70th Cannes Film Festival took place from 17 to 28 May 2017, in Cannes, France. Spanish film director and screenwriter Pedro Almodóvar was the President of the Jury for the festival and Italian actress Monica Bellucci hosted the opening an ...

on 21 May 2017. It was released in the United Kingdom on 11 May 2018, by

StudioCanal UK StudioCanal Limited, operating as StudioCanal (formerly Optimum Releasing), is the official branch of StudioCanal in the British Isles. The company releases many films, including foreign, anime (mostly Studio Ghibli), independent, art, Britis ...

, and in the United States on 25 May 2018 by A24.

Premise

Young Enn and his best friends stumble upon a bizarre gathering of teenagers who are from another planet, visiting Earth to complete a mysterious rite of passage. That does not stop Enn from falling madly in love with Zan, a beautiful and rebellious alien who becomes fascinated with him. Together, they embark on a delirious adventure through the kinetic, punk rock world of 1970s London, inadvertently setting off a series of events that leads to the ultimate showdown between punks and aliens.

Cast

as Zan, a rebellious young alien curious about Earth *

as Enn, a punk comic book artist and Zan's love interest *

as Queen Boadicea, an old-school punk who manages the local punk hangout *

as PT Stella, one of the alien leaders *

as PT Wain, one of the alien leaders * Abraham Lewis as Vic, Enn's best friend *

Ethan Lawrence Ethan David Lawrence (born 28 September 1992) is an English actor. He is known for playing the roles of Joe Poulter in the BBC series '' Bad Education'' and James in the Netflix black comedy series '' After Life''. Since 2021, he has played va ...

as John, Enn's other best friend *

Edward Petherbridge Edward Petherbridge (born 3 August 1936) is an English actor, writer and artist. Among his many roles, he portrayed Lord Peter Wimsey in the 1987 BBC television adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayers' novels, and Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's ''R ...

as PT First, the alien supreme leader *

Joanna Scanlan Joanna Marion Scanlan (born 27 October 1961) is a British actress. On television, she is known for her roles in British series such as ''The Thick of It'' (2005–2012), '' Getting On'' (2009–2012), ''Puppy Love'' (2014), and ''No Offence'' ( ...

as Marion, Enn's mother *

Tom Brooke Thomas Brooke (born 1978) is an English actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Thick Kevin in '' The Boat That Rocked'' (2009), Bill Wiggins and Andy Apsted in the BBC One television series ''Sherlock'' and ''Bodyguard'' respectivel ...

as PT Waldo, Zan's parent, one of the alien leaders * Martin Tomlinson as Slap, a punk singer managed by Boadicea * Rory Nolan as young Enn, Zan and Enn's Son

Filming

on the film began on November 9, 2015, in

, which would be standing in for London.

Release

In September 2015, A24 acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. It had its world premiere at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

on May 21, 2017. It was released in the United Kingdom on 11 May 2018 and in the United States on 25 May 2018.

Critical response

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 Wan ...

, the film has an approval rating of 48% based on 96 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''How to Talk to Girls at Parties'' has energy and ambition, but is ultimately too unfocused to do much with either — or develop its themes into a cohesive whole." 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 has a weighted average score of 50 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". David Rooney of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' stated that despite the charming characters of Elle Fanning (a curious alien) and Nicole Kidman (a nihilistic low priestess), its attempts to "add political substance feels less than half-cooked" and in effect sacrifices "narrative cohesion" and "overcomplicates" Neil Gaiman's 18-page story.

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...

of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "The film enunciates its raw themes — punk means individuality! the aliens are all about conformity! — but never begins to figure out how to embody those themes in a narrative that could lure in the audience."

References

External links

* * * *
"How to Talk to Girls at Parties"
original source short story by Neil Gaiman. {{Neil Gaiman 2017 films 2017 independent films 2017 romantic comedy films 2017 science fiction films 2010s science fiction comedy films A24 (company) films American romantic comedy films American science fiction comedy films British romantic comedy films British science fiction comedy films Films based on science fiction short stories Films based on works by Neil Gaiman Films directed by John Cameron Mitchell Films scored by Nico Muhly Films set in the 1970s Films set in London Films shot in London Films shot in South Yorkshire HanWay Films films Punk films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films