Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off: Love, Loss & Comedy

"Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" explores love addiction & suicidal tendencies. Despite strong performances, it struggles to balance humor and heart, resulting in a muddled dramedy. #movie #review

It’s not concerning Lydia not being able to discover a male she would want to be in a lasting connection with. Rather, it’s concerning her failure to hold on to any kind of feeling of warmth and comfort, as an outcome of her suicidal behaviors. Unfortunately, the intent does not rather reduce it for this movie to increase above a sea of similar dramatization.

A Broken-Hearted Love Addict

Elizabeth Guest’s feature directorial debut, “Allow’s Call the entire Thing Off” (2025 ), fits comfortably in the listing of titles that come from an excellent place. Guest creates, directs, and stars in the leading duty of a young, broken-hearted love addict. It indicates that she seriously longs for to be in a relationship at any kind of offered point in her life. Her lovemaking determines her entire self-regard, which makes her prone to some suicidal practices. Her trip is bound to damage any type of compassionate person’s heart. Unfortunately, these elements do not amount to make the film a memorable representation on this subject.

Dysfunctional Family Dynamics

In Lydia’s case, the parents are much from being traditionally controlling. Instead, they appear like adorable oddballs who deeply look after Lydia’s well-being. So, it’s not their absence of love yet their self-important nature that adds to some of Lydia’s psychological agitations. The actors, in those duties, consists of Ed Begley Jr., Rachelle Carson-Begley, and the director’s real-life parents, Pamela and Nicholas. They are all more than qualified to manage a comedic prance as developed in this movie, however it is far from initial.

Guest composes, directs, and celebrities in the leading function of a young, broken-hearted love addict. Her love life dictates her entire self-worth, which makes her prone to some suicidal behaviors. Guest’s movie is not completely concerning the event, yet it has aspects that set these tasks apart from similar feel-good dramatization. Visitor intends to provide a comparable anxiety-inducing trip in her personality’s life– even if the occasion itself isn’t naturally tragic as it is in Seligman’s movie. Also within the film’s festival-adjacent film group, there are much better titles that capture the festive spirit while forming characters that you would certainly be interested about.

Guest’s film is not entirely about the event, yet it has components that set these tasks apart from similar feel-good dramas. Guest aims to offer a comparable anxiety-inducing journey in her personality’s life– also if the occasion itself isn’t inherently tragic as it is in Seligman’s film.

The script turns them into the kind of family members figures that might have appeared captivating over a years earlier or more. In the present, their personalities seem like stale caricatures who may have done marvels on the screen in the aughts. So, its attempt at screwball funny feels rather dated. Even then, Lydia’s arc (although foreseeable) does have a redeeming quality because her problems have disabling consequences. The film is concerning this young lady having a hard time with self-acceptance, which leads to problems, partly of her own production, which she battles to find a way out of.

What it rather becomes is a warm festival-season film that breaks with that said dynamic spirit. It feels like the sort of movie that grown-up households would intend to catch together during the holiday season. There are plenty of reasons it feels well-suited in that regard. It has that Hallmark-adjacent brilliant, vivid top quality that Xmas movies often tend to have. Fail to remember movies like “Die Hard,” which commonly enter discussion mainly because they happen around this time around. Instead, think about tasks like “It’s a Fantastic Life” or “The Holdovers,” which burst with the charm of togetherness.

Lack of Narrative Innovation

The problem lies in a lack of advancement past the routine narrative strings. Whether it’s Lydia’s unpleasant broken heart or her battle in human connection, the film does not offer anything remarkable, instead remaining restricted to platitudinal genre beats. The silver lining in this mess is Andrew Leeds’s performance, which really feels far more authentic than every person else. He plays Tim, the reliable companion that Lydia wants to be with, however struggles to make the connection job. Leeds’s deactivating visibility sticks out amongst the actors, since other performances are either repetitive or irritating to sit with.

A film-critic who loves to share his fixation with cinema and television. Loves paying attention to songs and exploring new artists. Still not over the 2nd season of The Bear and the last scene of One more Round. Large fan of Ayo Edebiri, Hannah Einbinder, Tyler Okonma, Bill Hader, Donald Glover, and Nathan Fielder.

Festival-Adjacent Film Struggles

Even within the film’s festival-adjacent movie category, there are much better titles that catch the cheery spirit while shaping characters that you would certainly wonder about. Jay Duplass’s “The Baltimorons” is a striking example, besides the previously mentioned Alexander Payne film or Tyler Taormina’s “Xmas Eve in Miller’s Point.” Unlike those films, “Let’s Call the Whole Point Off” struggles to strike an equilibrium in between its humor and heart, resulting in a muddled hodge-podge with only a few long suits.