‘You Hurt My Feelings’ Trailer: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Has a Breakdown Over a White Lie

Samantha Bergeson
·2 min read
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus doesn’t have time for fake compliments in her latest comedy.

The “Veep” Emmy winner collaborates again with “Enough Said” filmmaker Nicole Holofcener, with new film “You Hurt My Feelings” marking Holofcener’s first original feature in a decade.

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“You Hurt My Feelings” centers on a novelist (Louis-Dreyfus) whose long standing marriage is suddenly upended when she overhears her husband give his honest reaction to her latest book. Tobias Menzies stars as Louis-Dreyfus’ onscreen partner who works as a therapist.

Owen Teague, Michaela Watkins, and Arian Moayed also star, with cameos by Amber Tamblyn, David Cross, and Zach Cherry.

Writer-director Holofcener immediately pictured Louis-Dreyfus in the main role, as she exclusively told IndieWire during the film’s 2023 Sundance premiere.

“I knew how brilliantly she’d do this. If I was wondering if this was too sappy or too silly, I was like, ‘No. It’s going to work out. She’s just going to nail it,’” Holofcener recalled, citing their shared sense of humor. “My movies are so personal, so I feel like, ‘Well, if you really like me but don’t get my movies, then I instinctively feel like you don’t get me,’ which is weird because they’re not me. And yet, I’m so vulnerable and sensitive to that. I just thought that was an interesting thing to ponder and play out.”

IndieWire’s Kate Erbland wrote in the review of the dramedy that the “major inciting incident of the film — that Beth (Louis-Dreyfus) overhears Don (Menzies) telling Mark he really doesn’t like her new book, just as she’s fighting to get it published — is hardly a secret. It’s long being touted as the film’s entire synopsis, and the moment in which it unfolds is just as heartbreaking and horrifying as it should be. Louis-Dreyfus is devastated by the admission, and the actress expertly pulls off the full spectrum of emotions that Beth rapidly cycles through in the aftermath.”

Erbland wrote, “In the moments when the film really shines, it’s clear that there is smarter stuff just under the surface. But even low-key Holofcener boasts the things that make her work so fun to watch — endless city-set walk-and-talks, costumes and settings that actually seem suited to their characters, and snappy editing (care of Alisa Lepselter) that play up the laughs — and ‘You Hurt My Feelings’ is packed with each of them. We just wish it hurt a bit more.”

“You Hurt My Feelings” premieres May 26 in theaters.

Check out the trailer below.

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