''When We First Met'' is a 2018 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Ari Sandel Ari Devon Sandel (born September 5, 1974) is an American filmmaker. He is known for directing the short film '' West Bank Story'' (2005), which won the 2006 Academy Award in the category Best Live Action Short Film. Life and career Sandel was b ...

, written by John Whittington, and starring

Adam DeVine Adam Patrick DeVine (born November 7, 1983) is an American comedian, actor, producer and screenwriter. He is one of the stars and co-creators of the Comedy Central comedy television series '' Workaholics'' and '' Adam DeVine's House Party''. H ...

, Alexandra Daddario, Shelley Hennig, Andrew Bachelor and Robbie Amell. It was released worldwide on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on February 9, 2018.

Plot

Noah Ashby is in love with beautiful Avery Martin after meeting her at a 2014

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

party, but she regards him as a friend. Avery meets her fiancé, Ethan, the day after she and Noah met. Three years later, Noah remains distraught at not having been able to win her over. When he becomes intoxicated at Ethan and Avery's engagement party, Noah winds up in the

photo booth A photo booth is a vending machine or modern kiosk that contains an automated, usually coin-operated, camera and film processor. Today, the vast majority of photo booths are digital. History The patent for the first automated photography m ...

he used with her on their first meeting and drunkenly operates it before falling asleep. Awakening in bed, Noah discovers the photo booth brought him back to the day they met and he resolves to change the events of the day to ensure he and Avery end up together. Noah uses his pre-existing knowledge of Avery to his advantage in his first attempt to win her over, but Avery and her roommate Carrie Grey suspect him of being a stalker, and he returns to a new version of 2017 where he and Avery do not know each other. For his second attempt traveling back to 2014, Noah follows his friend Max's advice of being a rude alpha male and successfully beds Avery, but he develops a self-absorbed personality and when he returns to the present, his relationship with Avery is purely sexual. Recognizing that Avery and Ethan are still attracted to each other, Noah has a conversation with Carrie and deduces that Avery is attracted to stable and dependable men. Noah gets a job at Max's company and presents himself in a more mature manner to Avery for his third attempt. When he returns to 2017, he and Avery live in a big house and are engaged. However, his friendship with Max has soured because he took the senior vice president position that Max was working towards, his job commitments prevent him from spending time with Avery, and Ethan is now distraught over Avery marrying someone else. Following another conversation with Carrie, Noah recognizes that Avery does not love him and she is meant to be with Ethan. He also realizes that, having bonded with Carrie during his time travel adventures, he is meant to be with her. Traveling back to 2014 for a fourth time, Noah arranges for Avery and Ethan to meet at the Halloween party while he pursues Carrie, whom he discovers he has more in common with than Avery. His actions restore Ethan and Avery's engagement and his friendship with Max, but Noah learns that he did not win Carrie's love and she resumed dating her ex-boyfriend, Phil. Noah finally realizes that he needed to first become friends with Avery in order to meet Carrie, and he travels back one last time to meet Avery the way he did originally. With the present fully restored, Noah initiates a conversation with Carrie at the engagement party and the two begin their own relationship.

Cast

as Noah Ashby * Alexandra Daddario as Avery Martin * Shelley Hennig as Carrie Grey * Andrew Bachelor as Max * Robbie Amell as Ethan * Dean J. West as Josh * Tony Cavalero as the

Angus Young Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and the only continuous member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, schoolboy-u ...

partygoer * Chris Wylde as Mr. Costigan *

Noureen DeWulf Noureen DeWulf (née Ahmed) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her film roles in '' West Bank Story'' (2005), ''Ghosts of Girlfriends Past'' (2009), and ''The Back-up Plan'' (2010). She also starred as Lacey on the sitcom ...

as Margo

Production

In May 2016,

was set to direct the film from a script by John Whittington and

, while producers on the film are Adam Saunders of Footprint Features,

Mason Novick Mason Novick (born December 20, 1974) is an American film producer and talent manager based in Los Angeles. Background Career His credits include ''Red Eye (2005 American film), Red Eye'' (2005), ''Juno (film), Juno'' (2007), ''(500) Days of ...

of MXN Entertainment, with Mary Viola and

McG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

Wonderland Sound and Vision Wonderland Sound and Vision, Inc., or simply known as Wonderland, Inc., is an American production company founded by director and producer Joseph McGinty Nichol in 2001. It independently develops, produces and finances its own slate of feature ...

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 the ...

on the film began in mid-July 2016 in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Reception

On the review-aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The critical consensus reads: "Much like its protagonist, ''When We First Met'' struggles in the cinematic 'friend zone' -- and will face a slew of viewer breakups before finding much in the way of true love." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". ''Decider'' writer Lea Palmeri said, "DeVine's ability to be charming and endearing shouldn't be underestimated here and you'll be rooting for him before you know it." Ravi Teja of ''Age of the Nerd'' stated that he "carries the whole movie on his shoulders with perfection."

References

External links