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When Naima (Alia Shawkat, "Search Party") and Sergio (Laia Costa, Victoria ) meet at a club, they hit it off instantly, connecting over their disdain for the dishonesty they have experienced in their respective romantic relationships. High on their fast chemistry, the two women concoct a romantic experiment: They plan to spend the next 24 hours together, having sex on the hour. Above all, they commit to perfect honesty with each other, a theoretical remedy to the deceit they believe to be an element of modern relationships. But their relationship in a vacuum doesn't go as planned, and soon the weight of their commitment begins to close in, threatening the ideals of the daylong experiment and their chances for a romantic future tomorrow. The latest film from Miguel Arteta, the director behind Beatriz at Dinner, The Good Girl and Chuck & Buck, Duck Butter is a blistering look at intimacy in a pressure cooker. Co-written by Shawkat and executive produced by the Duplass Brothers, the film offers a searing interrogation of modern romance, with all its dizzying highs and heartbreaking betrayals, all packed into an intense 24 hours.
Rating
NR
Director
Miguel Arteta
Studio
The Orchard
Writer
Miguel Arteta, Alia Shawkat
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- What a feat for Shawkat in particular -- her myriad creative strengths are exemplified here, and I'm so excited for whatever she does next.Reply
- Like its characters, Duck Butter is imperfect, but unlike human objects of our affection, it's attractive despite its flaws rather than because of them.Reply
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- While some might be expecting shock, the unique Duck Butter ends up being honest and relatable, stripping bare the excess of what we often fear about ourselves and those we are with.Reply
- Duck Butter has a lot to offer when it comes to present-day relationships with remarkable performances from both Alia Shawkat and Laia Costa.Reply
- An instant classic... a truly fresh and modern relationship movie, a portrait of two women who collide, spectacularly, for a moment in time.Reply
- If you can step outside of your comfort zone, like Shawkat and Costa demonstrate with their brazen performances, this is worth a watch.Reply
- The holistic, engrossing, often icky sense of intimacy that the name suggests is very appropriate for this head-spinning film, a romantic endurance test that's rewarding and suffocating in equal measure.Reply
- A movie that reminds you that sometimes all you need in realist fiction is a glimpse into another person's being - but with heart and intelligence, good craft and technique.Reply
- At times cloyingly precious, at other moments very sexy, Duck Butter succeeds on the talent of its two terrific lead actresses.Reply
- Duck Butter gets props for its creative story, for its queer women-centered storyline (with Mae Whitman, Hong Chau, and Kate Berlant in supporting roles). But ultimately, Duck Butter a just-okay sex comedy.Reply
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- The real stars of the show are Shawkat and Costa, who sustain what might be in the wrong hands-for the sake of argument, let's just call them Joe Swanberg's hands-an insufferable relationship drama.Reply
- In scope, it's a modest movie (and purposefully so), but the relationships and impulses it portrays are anything but minor.Reply