Afternoon Delight
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoey Soloway[lower-alpha 1]
Written byJoey Soloway
Produced byJen Chaiken
Sebastian Dungan
StarringKathryn Hahn
Juno Temple
Josh Radnor
Jane Lynch
CinematographyJim Frohna
Edited byCatherine Haight
Music byCraig Wedren
Production
companies
72 Productions
Rincon Entertainment
Distributed byThe Film Arcade
Release dates
  • January 21, 2013 (2013-01-21) (Sundance)
  • August 30, 2013 (2013-08-30) (United States; limited)
Running time
97 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$174,496[3]

Afternoon Delight is a 2013 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Joey Soloway.[lower-alpha 1][4] It stars Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, and Jane Lynch. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it was awarded the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award. It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on August 30, 2013.

Plot

Rachel is a mother living in an unhappy life, frustrated by the roles of being a stay-at-home mom and not having had sex with her husband Jeff for months. She visits her therapist, Lenore, but is unable to find any help in her advice.

Looking to spice up their relationship, Rachel and Jeff go to a strip club, where Rachel sees McKenna. Jeff buys her a private lap dance from McKenna; Rachel finds out that McKenna is only 19. Rachel and Jeff continue not having sex.

Rachel drives to the neighborhood of the strip club, hoping to see McKenna. At an espresso hut, she sees McKenna and they start talking. She introduces herself and they become friends, having coffee together regularly. One day, Rachel finds McKenna thrown out of her residence, and now homeless, so she invites her to stay at her large house. While Jeff is less than happy, Rachel does not feel that she can kick her out, as she feels she can help McKenna get out of being a stripper. She finds out that McKenna is a prostitute, who has clients she sees regularly.

Rachel starts teaching McKenna to nanny her young son Logan. When Rachel is frustrated at a school event, she asks McKenna if she can go with her to see her client, Jack. When there, she watches the two of them have sex, and is horrified by what she sees.

When asked by a friend if McKenna can babysit, Rachel changes her mind and says she doesn't want her to. McKenna is upset by this, as she went through a lot of effort buying things for the girls' party. While the women are out, and all the men are at Jeff and Rachel's house, McKenna comes in and starts acting provocatively. She ends up sleeping with one of Jeff's friends, but his wife and Rachel walk in on them. McKenna is thrown out of their house.

Rachel tells Jeff that she wants out of this life, and out of her head, which he takes to mean he should leave. At a visit to Lenore, Rachel comforts Lenore when she starts crying and telling her how her partner had left, saying "I don't want to start all over again." That night, Rachel goes to Jeff (he is staying in the garage of one of his friends) and they reconcile, being happier than ever.

One day while driving, Rachel sees McKenna on the street, and starts to stop but changes her mind. She tells her friend that she had nothing to say to her.

Rachel and Jeff are happy together again. The film ends with Rachel and Jeff having passionate sex while Rachel moans with orgasm.

Cast

Release

The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.[4] The film was given a limited release on August 30, 2013.[5]

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Afternoon Delight has a 67% approval rating based on 81 reviews, with an average rating of 6.17/10. The film's critics consensus reads: "Afternoon Delight's uncertain tone is entertainingly offset by smart dialogue and standout starring work from Kathryn Hahn."[6] On Metacritic, based on 21 critics, the film has a 48/100 rating, signifying "mixed or average reviews".[7] Christy Lemire gave the film two stars.[8]

Soloway received the Directing Award for Drama at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2013.[9]

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino included Afternoon Delight on his list of the Top Ten Films of 2013.[10]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Credited as Jill Solloway; Afternoon Delight was released before Soloway came out as non-binary and began using the name "Joey".[1]

References

  1. ↑ Gardner, Chris (December 4, 2020). "Joey Soloway on Pronouns, Deadnaming and the Joy of Elliot Page: "We're Going to Be Here"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Afternoon Delight (18)". British Board of Film Classification. February 24, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Afternoon Delight". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Afternoon Delight". Sundance Film Festival. Archived from the original on March 11, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Afternoon Delight". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Afternoon Delight (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Afternoon Delight Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  8. ↑ Lemire, Christy (August 30, 2013). "Afternoon Delight". rogerebert.com. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  9. ↑ Patten, Dominic (May 7, 2013). "Film Arcade And Cinedigm Pick Up Sundance Winner 'Afternoon Delight'". Deadline. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Quentin Tarantino Shares His 10 Best Movies of 2013 (So Far) Read more: Quentin Tarantino Shares His 10 Best Movies of 2013 (So Far)". Time.com. October 7, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
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