‘Oh, Hi!’ Review: Tie Him Up, Tie Him Down [C+] – Sundance Film Festival

The second feature by Sophie Brooks (The Boy Downstairs), Oh, Hi! starts out as a pretty nondescript indie rom-com that typically makes the rounds at minor festivals. But it soon ratchets up and becomes fully unhinged – think Misery and Kathy Bates levels – earning it a rightful spot in Sundance Film Festival’s Premieres section. 

Molly Gordon, who co-wrote the screenplay with Brooks, stars as Iris, who in the opening scene panickedly greets her bestie, Max (Geraldine Viswanathan), at the door and announces that she has done something bad. OK, so we do get fair warning. But then Oh, Hi! immediately flashes backward to 33 hours prior, when Iris is in the car with boyfriend, Isaac (Logan Lerman), en route to a farmhouse in upstate New York for a romantic getaway, singing along to Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers on the stereo.  

At a roadside strawberry stand, the attendant brazenly flirts with Isaac. He’s clearly smitten with her as well, so much so that he backs Iris’s car right into the stand. So far, the film emanates that mildly droll meet cute vibe you routinely get from indie rom-coms, in instances like Isaac warning Iris about a passing car while she’s relieving herself on the side of the road. She does casually mention that she once felt the urge to stab an ex though she had the good sense to never follow through, but that offhand remark isn’t sufficient to raise any red flags yet – for Isaac or for the audience. 

Inside the farmhouse, Iris uncovers a closet stuffed with S&M toys, thanks to her ability to pick locks, because locked doors make her anxious. Isaac suggests that they try out this treasure trove. But first, whisky shots. Iris overshares that she can’t do the butt plugs because she once had a procedure. So far, this is kind of in the same league with Cha Cha Real Smooth. Mid-sex, Iris suddenly decides she can’t go through with this because she’s “not that kind of girl,” even though this is fun to her. So she proposes to tie up Isaac instead. This is where things start to go really wrong. 

They apparently have had a misunderstanding about the terms and conditions of their relationship. Incensed that he is only interested in keeping things casual after four months of dating, Iris refuses to unshackle Isaac, and demands 12 hours to change his mind – hence the Misery reference earlier herein – after googling stuff like “Can kinky sex lead to fighting?” Honestly, it would have been much funnier if she used ChatGPT instead. She of course hasn’t thought through all the logistics, including his bathroom breaks. 

Although Misery is where the plot is headed, Oh, Hi! still isn’t taking Iris’s threats too seriously. It feels like a missed opportunity. Brooks makes a conscious choice to prioritize the comedic bits over the inherent thriller elements, but who is to say the film can’t be both? Álex de la Iglesia’s superb The Perfect Crime is a prime example of a film that takes things so far that it becomes horror – yet nevertheless remains a riot.  

Isaac reminds Iris that kidnapping could land her in jail for years. She quickly dismisses both release and murder as viable options, and ultimately settles for casting a spell to wipe his memory with a recipe courtesy of Max’s witch cousin. 

The film squanders so many situations ripe for tension and suspense, such as a creepy neighbor (David Cross) and the arrival of Max and her boyfriend, Kenny (John Reynolds). Max and Kenny don’t even attempt to help drill some sense into Iris, willingly resigning themselves to the roles of accomplices. 

Gordon brings appropriate manic energy to her role and breathes life into a cartoon villain. Lerman, on the other hand, is mid. There’s a flashback explaining why Iris is so hung up on Isaac, and he doesn’t really quite sell this pivotal moment, or project enough fear to match the specter of imminent death. Even when Isaac tries to manipulate Iris, it’s not at all convincing. 

Despite the potential life at stake and legal ramifications for the other characters, it all inexplicably resolves in the most tepid and hokey way imaginable. If Brooks and Gordon could have upped the ante even more, this would probably have driven the festival goers wild, and Oh, Hi! would be well on its way to becoming a cult classic.  

Grade: C+

This review is from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival where Oh, Hi! has its world premiere.