There Is No I in Threesome (2021) User Reviews

It is not fake people

[magikpauch · 6/10 · 18 October 2021]

Zoe and Tom obviously didn't give permission for their footage to be shown, so Ollie had to reshoot their parts with actors to not lose his film.

The film is not something groundbreaking, its actually a bit predictable but these things happen.

Excuse me?

[calvinc1203 · 7/10 · 10 October 2021]

1. If the subject matter is so "gross" then you shouldn't have watched it.

2. The couple was "exploring" and didn't know what they were doing, so how were you expecting an "informative & truthful representation of polyamory"??

3. How is this reenactment "fiction" when they show you that most of the "scripts" are word-for-word from the original footage? Zoe and Tom obviously didn't want him to use the real footage and the director did his best to be truthful. The emotional journey & betrayal you felt (because this isn't a "true documentary" even though crime & historical documentaries rarely show any "real" footage...) attest to the level of acting involved. Everything looks like a WIN to me! Great job :)

Confusing

[shadowtree · 5/10 · 27 February 2021]

There is a lot of confusion in the reviews here. Granted, it's not entirely unwarranted, as the film is something other than what it is promoted as. However, if you are going to write or read a review, you may as well be accurate.

The story is real. The characters are real. The part that I and others feel is underhanded is that the whole thing is a recreation/dramatization, which is not revealed until the final few minutes.

Throughout the entire course of the film, we are led to believe that Jan and Zoe are a magnificent couple who are planning to get married in about a year, but first they want to do some sexual exploring. So they agree on some rules and enter into an open relationship arrangement.

Along the way, Jan realizes (or admits) that he is bisexual, so that also plays in. Jan meets a lady he falls for. Zoe meets a guy she super falls for. Then things get complicated. Jealousy arises and tension builds.

By the end, they are within a couple months of their wedding, but Zoe suddenly bails on Jan to go with her boyfriend fully. That's when Jan confesses that, while this stuff did happen between him and his fiancée, the girl playing Zoe was an actress.

Yeah, it does feel disappointing for the fact that they broke up, but also a backhanded slap since they did not admit those aspects until you'd already invested an hour and a half.

5 stars... including 1 star because it's set in New Zealand and 1 star because the chick who plays Zoe is super hot. :)

Found it to be an interesting journey with the expected result (sort of)

[jordan2240 · 7/10 · 9 March 2021]

The film held my interest throughout. Not sure why people who don't 'approve' of the lifestyle clearly represented in the title would write bad reviews based on their moral viewpoint. Why did they even watch the movie (or did they)? I thought the film captured the dangers of an open relationship well, or what I'd perceive the dangers to be, given I've not had, nor want to have, experience with one. I did wonder how some of the shots were captured given it was supposed to be self-documented by the participants, but that's explained in the end.

Not sure what was up with the sound, but I had streaming issues with this film. First, a narration voice-over was turned on by default that wouldn't be necessary unless you were vision-impaired, and the audio and video sync were way off. But I enjoyed it nonetheless, and had no trouble staying with it to the end.

These people are awful.

[mianovember · 1/10 · 25 February 2021]

Please don't come away from this thinking that this is what polyamory is all about. These people are ridiculously immature, and the woman is manipulative and controlling, and using her boyfriend to make her fiance feel jealous. What a nightmare.

Brilliant filmmaking

[macv-50544 · 6/10 · 6 March 2021]

No spoilers.

Go into this cold without reading anything about it.

If you love fresh original groundbreaking films, you will love this movie.

Ughhhh

[bojanmiljanovic · 1/10 · 22 February 2021]

WTF is going on in this world! Humans are disappointing

Enjoyable but sad

[jessicabailey68 · 8/10 · 28 February 2021]

Some of you are utterly exhausting! I felt this documentary was really well done. Before we watched it, I had pretty much guessed what the ending was going to be and was partially correct. The few other surprises I was impressed by. Is it perfect? No. Ollie & Zoe are engaged to be married but are going to be living apart due to Zoe's work as an actress. They decide to open their relationship before they have their wedding. This is where some of the reviewers are stressing me out. They make their OWN rules on their polyamory. I hat they felt would work for them as a couple. So please stop forcing your views on what they should have been, when it plays into the reason the movie was created. Two consenting adults have relationships with other consenting adults, fully knowing exactly what they are getting into and what could possibly happen. Which yes, it does happen to both of them but Zoe truly falls for her partner and she breaks off the wedding despite Ollie giving in to her every whim along the way. You think that's going to be the shocker, but in all actuality it's that Zoe isn't actually the real Zoe. Ollie and RL Zoe agree to keep this documentary going but she is ultimately taken out. He explains this at the end. He shows both sides of things, including that he cared more about his career than he did her before they even came up with the idea for the documentary. I didn't go in blind, it's obvious how naive they were, especially Ollie who didn't explore his sexuality more during the time he was a teen/college student. This is life. Not everyone has the same feelings or experiences. I for one appreciate the honesty and vulnerability with this project. At the end when he shows him and Natalie going through the actual footage of him & RL Zoe, she is floored by how awful he has been to her and says " No wonder she left." Natalie was amazing as Zoe. She and Ollie had an amazing connection, as did she with Tom. You really felt like this was their actual story.

Yuck!!!

[dlb5473 · 19 June 2021]

This is the most Disgusting film ever!!! I fast forwarded to get through it!

... a six for trying

[bjarias · 6/10 · 24 August 2022]

... watch this whatever-it-is.. and it's obvious in just a short period of time, these two don't-anyway belong-match-together... she says at one point near the end, after he says "we-were-perfect"... her-instant-reply, "I-was-perfect-for-you"... so that's all of it in a nutshell, then add-the-hotter, several-ways-more-attractive (less-annoying) new-lover, and there's no-looking-back.

There Is No Reality in This Fake Documentary

[chrislo2401 · 1/10 · 17 February 2021]

There's nothing clever about a tv show or a movie that at the very end says "Surprise! It was all a dream!". Unsurprisingly, most people feel like all the emotional investment they made into the story and the characters now counts for nothing, and feel both cheated and stupid for having fallen for it.

Similarly, this "documentary" ends up being made up using an actor to play the fiancé. Yes. An actor. What's more, you're only told this at the very end after, you guessed it, you've made an investment into the characters.

If it was all real would it have been good? Eh, it was ok, probably a 4/10 for me.

But marketing itself as a documentary has of course left me with a bad taste in my mouth, and the feeling like the director is now laughing and calling us all suckers.

I'd give this a zero if I could, simply for lying.

Accept it for what it is. Brilliance!

[alphagenius · 9/10 · 17 February 2021]

The other reviewers seem as if they did not watch the entire movie and is making snap judgements an something that they do not fully understand.

In the end it is a movie chronicling real emotions from a couple that wanted to document a non mainstream ideology of an open relation ship and eventually polyamory. It takes the viewer through the journey of emotions from the hopeful beginning of excitement and joy all the way to the end and with unpredictable outcomes.

The twist at the end made the movie for for me. I never saw it coming especially because of how raw and introspective the entire movie was up to that point.

The movie has to be accepted for what it is, also considering what it was originally intended to be.

Kudos to the director.

Filmmaker cheats his audience; not a documentary

[CurbedEnthusiasm · 1/10 · 10 March 2021]

I felt compelled to write a review for this documentary because it's not a documentary and the filmmaker cheats his audience by creating a dramatisation of events that happened in his life. He doesn't tell the audience until the end of the documentary so the entire time the audience is led to believe it's real footage and actually happening. But it's not. It's entirely acted and renders the film a complete waste of time. Hard to fathom how the financing/studio/production companies agreed to such a decision. This is a good example of how not to make a documentary. Highly recommended to avoid this since it's a waste of time thinking it's real.

The I's Had It

[thesar-2 · 5/10 · 18 February 2021]

Well, there also is no "PIZZA," so I'm out!

While this was engaging and I wanted to see what happened next, thanks to the marketing, it was enormously predictable. But, it's not all the spoilery tagline from HBOMAX's fault. You really see where this is headed from the first jump.

Ollie and Zoe, one a filmmaker, the other, an actor, planned a wedding a year out and in the meantime, they chose to film themselves having open relationships while they live apart thanks to work. And they're one of those couples who have to constantly tell each other verbally that they love each other and everything is fine.

Again, I was engaged (in the film, not to one of these peeps) - helps the male half's cute with a great accent and is nude probably one quarter of the runtime. But, since it was painfully obvious how this'll pan out, it lost a ton of steam to the finale. That said, there were 1-2 more twists in the conclusion that did make up for its shortcomings.

Barely a recommendation. Sure, he's cute (or if you like/prefer women, she's also adorable and naked a lot) and it's less than 90 minutes, so if you have HBOMAX and 87 minutes to kill, why not?

Just don't be ordering HBOMAX for this. Far better softcore porn is available for free all over the internet.

***

Final thoughts: I have a confession I never told anyone...I might be pi. I think I love both men and pizza equally. And not opposed to a threesome.

Dull and disappointing.

[dbessent · 2/10 · 23 February 2021]

The whole premise of this mockumentary is that two people not emotionally mature enough for love or marriage decide to redefine their relationship with a dynamic that they know nothing about. I won't ruin the ending, but it pretty much ends exactly as you'd expect it to.

Absorbing documentary exploring an open relationship

[avenuesf · 8/10 · 14 February 2021]

The awkwardly-titled documentary "There Is No 'I' in Threesome" chronicles the relationship between Ollie, a filmmaker and Zoe, his fiance, who decide to open their relationship months before getting married. They both want to explore sex with other people before officially tying the knot, and we follow their experiences through videos they both create and share on their cell phones.

Throughout the film their communication remains brutally honest, which I found quite fascinating to watch. Ollie states in the beginning of the film that one of his goals it to explore his bisexuality, but for some reason he doesn't do that as the film progresses (besides an incident toward the end). Instead, he develops a close relationship with another woman. As the documentary progresses both he and Zoe navigate their way through feelings of jealousy, loneliness, and abandonment, until Zoe finally begins to get too close to a man she's been seeing and things start to unravel. This documentary illustrates how much more work and how complex an open relationships can be.

There is a twist in the film that's introduced toward the ending which I won't spoil here. Some viewers may feel betrayed by it, but the more I thought about it I realized it actually didn't change what the film was about or the observations it made.

Ollie states toward the conclusion that he blames himself for the direction their relationship eventually takes in the film. I think the problem was their inability to realize early that their relationship wasn't as satisfactory as it could have been for both parties. Opening their relationship not only made it more difficult for them to recognize that, but it also created an opportunity for Zoe to meet someone else she eventually felt more compatible with.

I recommend this film. I thought it was a very engrossing look at an intimate relationship, and put together in a very original way.

Not real in the slightest.

[sblanton-96286 · 3/10 · 13 February 2021]

I'm sorry if I didn't get the memo if this is supposed to be fake or not. But If this is supposed to be real...it's not. If it's supposed to be a mockumentary type film, then it's just "okay". However I feel this has been marketed as a real exploration on polyamory. This film is the equivalent to Paranormal Activity; in the sense that you know within the first 5 minutes you are watching a mockumentary with the sole purpose of entertainment. Again, if this is supposed to be a mockumentary style film, it's just fine and I'll give it 5 stars out of 10. However I feel the promotion of this film has been that it's a genuine look at polyamory. On that sense, it's a 2.

Raw emotion

[Kostagon666 · 9/10 · 12 February 2021]

This is such a great documentary to experience through the lens of the director a real love-story with a bit of a twist. Its a rollercoaster that takes you through many emotions of happiness, sadness and even cringe at some points (oh no, when they met each other I had to look away). You get to meet the protagonists in a more personal level with all their flaws and many many positive aspects. In my opinion, the film is more than just about being in an open relationship. It is about a couple experimenting with their sex life and trying to work out what works for both of them. It is about how a couple can handle important milestones and how easy it is to drift apart. In the end, I highly recommend watching this as you will have the opportunity to ask many questions about yourself and reflect from your own life.

Extremely poor representation of the polyamorous community

[coffeeslutej · 1/10 · 26 February 2021]

Worst representation of a polyamorous relationship. do not waste your time watching this "film" if you think that the polyam community is represented well. don't even waste your time period, was not entertaining.

Not a documentary. Don't believe the hype.

[queeroid · 1/10 · 13 February 2021]

I'm guessing they wanted to go down the Blair Witch route of calling this film what it isn't in an attempt to get more viewers, but it's certainly _not_ a documentary. This is a work of fiction in which a couple decide to open their relationship without setting clear boundaries and, shock and awe, things get sour as a result. Their characters behave irresponsibly in their plot and they behave irresponsibly in their advertising of the film.

Zoe is played by Natalie Medlock who has been in a well-documented relationship with Robbie Magasiva since 2011.

it made me feel ill emotionall

[natallia-48531 · 2/10 · 1 March 2021]

2 stars because it made me feel ill emotionally and I could feel it even the next day. Agree with the other reviewer: immature, and the woman is manipulative and controlling.

Perhaps subconsciously she felt that as a couple they are not "it" for many reasons, hence she suggested opening their relationship.

When you find the one, you will want the relationship closed.

Well and if your are in a position where you feel like your partner needs more, either run or seal it quickly. Don't play games. There is always someone better.

Brilliant and unique

[soulsmile33 · 9/10 · 16 August 2021]

First off, readers need to understand that the crappy reviews are dolts who clearly didn't read or understand the synopsis of the movie. Many people bashed the PREMISE of the film, as opposed to the film itself. Like an atheist reviewing a religious ceremony. C'mon.

But for those who are able to get past their own personal "shoulds", it's brilliant. It's ONE person's narrative, so how on earth can it be "wrong"??? Even the angry poly folks have a bug up their ^ss, acting as if this one man with his camera is somehow the poster child for an entire community but he didn't do it correctly. Get over yourselves.

This a story. It's told like a story and it's clear in its mission. It's shot steadily and it's well edited. It flows well, it keeps you interested, and it's personal af. This took time.

Not only is it an intriguing super-personal vlog-type account of this one man's experience, but it's also a pretty great film.

Not a documentary

[ali-rostami-it · 1/10 · 18 February 2021]

This doesn't look like a documentary at all. The events in the storyline are covered superficially.

The first movie about poly who caught the real feeling

[mysfdry · 10/10 · 3 May 2022]

This is what it feels like to be part of a polyamoureus setting! I cried en laught so much. The feeling of loosing and gaining I think was capitured exactly as how it feels for me. From being the one in the open marriage to the one that is the Third person, Ive been on those sights and this film got it!

Thank you ollie!

You knew something was up ...

[Reviewer99 · 4/10 · 26 August 2021]

... right from the start. The couple were too cute and having too much fun. It's not a documentary, watch it at your own peril.