Maddie Barker is a 32-year-old Montauk bartender and Uber driver who still lives in her childhood home. She falls behind on property taxes and loses her car, which she needs for work. Wealthy parents offer her a Buick if she will date their shy 19-year-old son, Percy, before he leaves for Princeton. Maddie expects a simple deal, but Percy does not follow the plan she has in mind. The setup turns a familiar sex-comedy role around by making Maddie the older pursuer and Percy the hesitant young man. She pushes for dates and sex, while Percy prefers a real bond and asks to slow down. Their time together grows into a friendship that helps both face loneliness, family hurts, and the gap between Montauk locals and rich summer visitors. At a party, Maddie's crude joke about two boys having sex leads teens to call her homophobic. Maddie briefly says she has been with girls, and the movie treats the exchange as a comic clash between generations.
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Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for No Hard Feelings.
Woke representation / casting
Gene Stupnitsky said he wanted a woman in the careless romance-comedy role usually given to a man. Jennifer Lawrence plays Maddie as the bold pursuer in her deal with Percy. Maddie briefly says she has been with girls during a party exchange.
20%
Woke political dialogue
The party teens call Maddie homophobic after she makes a joke about two boys having sex. One boy says homophobes are not welcome at his party. Maddie says she has been with girls and denies being homophobic.
7%
Identity-driven story themes
Maddie takes the pursuer's role when the parents pay her to date Percy and start his sex life. She leads their early outings while Percy is shy and asks to slow down. Their bond changes from a paid plan into real care for each other.
37%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Not present. The story shows property taxes and rich summer visitors as local money problems.
0%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. This is an original screenplay, not an adaptation or rewrite of established characters or history.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Bounding Into Comics called the film a feminist sex comedy with no audience. One reply under Sony's premiere post called it “woke crap.” A men's-rights Reddit post called Maddie's role misandrist and said it made men look foolish.
16%
Creator track record context
Jennifer Lawrence has backed Democrats and called for equal pay for women and reproductive rights. Justine Ciarrocchi helped start a film about Afghan women and produced a documentary about abortion access. Gene Stupnitsky has a stored score of 25, and John Phillips has a stored score of 42 with no woke history listed. Other listed producers and crew have stored scores from 24 to 39.
37%
Production
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