“The Threesome” (2025), written by Ethan Ogilby, follows three people facing the consequences of their impulsive choices on a night that leads them to an unexpected threesome. The script uses it as an inciting incident for its rom-com, while leaning more into the real-life implications of their actions rather than using their sexual adventures as a punchline.
Chad Hartigan’s direction effectively captures the human elements of this slice-of-life drama, turning it into a resonant portrait of young adults navigating a new part of their lives. Their choices are not always the most mature or logical, which makes the film seem all the more faithful in its depiction of the growing pains of adulthood. With a central cast of Zoey Deutch, Ruby Cruz, Jonah Hauer-King, Jaboukie Young-White, and Josh Segarra, the film feels like a perfect follow-up to Hartigan’s 2020 tragic romance film, “Little Fish.”
Spoilers Ahead
The Threesome (2025) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
“The Threesome” centres around one man and two women who spend a night together, only to realize that their actions have thrust them into a world of responsibilities that they are not quite prepared for.
What happens in The Threesome?
Connor (Jonah Hauer-King), a 20-something man, attends the wedding of his bartender friend, Greg (Jaboukie Young-White), and his husband, Matthew (Tommy Do). At a later date, he hangs out at Greg’s bar with his ex, Olivia (Zoey Deutch), who casually teases him about his singlehood. Greg diverts Connor’s attention to Jenny (Ruby Cruz), a young woman sitting alone, probably because her date bailed on her. Greg tells Connor to give her company, hoping it will lead them to hook up. Olivia, who was away for the moment, returns to find Connor with Jenny.
She joins them and casually jokes about Connor in a way that can make his date lose interest in him. Yet, it doesn’t seem like a clear case of envy toward Jenny. It feels like she is secretly interested in her and is probably flirting with the idea of winning her instead of Connor. Anyhow, a few hours later, she joins them both in bed as they have a threesome. They are all invested in it for their own reasons, and it has to do more than the act itself. In the morning, Olivia leaves before Connor or Jenny wakes up. He tries texting Olivia to see how she is doing, and Jenny catches him. In that awkward moment, he decides to join Jenny in the shower.
After that, he meets Olivia at a cafe where they begin to rekindle their romance. It’s almost like the night they spent together gave them a reason to realize what they were missing for so long. Their fling, however, takes a serious turn when Olivia learns that she is pregnant. That doesn’t turn out to be a dealbreaker since they both seem happy with this new step in their relationship. Connor even starts picturing their lives together. Sadly, it all comes crashing down when they realize that Jenny is pregnant as well.
What does Olivia decide after realizing Jenny’s situation?
Olivia looks forward to having a family with Connor. However, after realizing that Jenny is also pregnant, she decides to have an abortion. Unlike her, Jenny wants to keep the child, which puts Connor in a bind. He doesn’t love Jenny the way he loves Olivia, but that doesn’t keep Jenny away from wanting to give birth to their child. So, no matter how much he loves Olivia, he can’t abandon Jenny. He needs to take responsibility as a father of his and Jenny’s child. It gets even more challenging when Olivia decides to keep her child. She makes that decision after spending some time with Connor on her way to the abortion centre.
After that, Connor struggles to find a balance between both relationships. Eventually, Jenny and Olivia cross paths at a pregnancy clinic, where the latter is not ready to share the space with the former. Somehow, the two get over the differences, as Greg jokingly points out Connor’s fault for their predicament. They don’t become friends, but leave on good terms. A few months later, Connor joins Jenny to meet her parents, only to realize that they are a conservative couple. He pretends to be the kind of partner they hope Jenny to have. Olivia happens to see photos of them spending time together and gets upset for being left out of that happiness.
While trying to cheer her up, Connor rekindles the spark they seem to have lost. It feels like they might be in a relationship all over again. However, just when things start getting better, Olivia realizes something about her pregnancy: the child may not be Connor’s but her friend, Kevin’s (Josh Segarra). Unlike Connor, Kevin is not ready for a commitment since he is already married to someone else. Still, to bury the hatchet, he agrees to undergo a paternity test. Eventually, Olivia learns whether he is the father or not, but probably at the worst possible time.
The Threesome (2025) Movie Ending Explained:
Who was the father of Olivia’s baby?
Olivia learns that Connor is not the father of her child. She realizes that only after she arrives at a hospital to give birth to their daughter. That report upsets Connor, not because he is not the father, but because of all the burden he was holding on to for the past few months while walking on a tightrope. To make matters worse, Jenny and her parents arrive at the hospital after Olivia spends a day there. That’s when her parents learn that Connor is having another child with another woman. Her father takes out his anger in the lobby. Only after seeing the staff calming him down does Olivia learn the truth about her child.
Connor walks out of the hospital, alone, and breaks into tears. On one hand, he feels relieved that he has faced the worst that could have happened as a result of the double pregnancy. Yet, he is heartbroken by the truth of Olivia’s pregnancy. As it happens, she feels terrible that he had to face the wrath of Jenny’s father, which is only a part of all the pressure he has been under for a while. So, she apologizes to him and to Jenny for everything that happened. It takes a while for him to be comfortable with the truth and to find a common ground with Olivia. In the film’s end, he decides whether he wants to be with her or Jenny.
Does Connor end up with Olivia or Jenny?
At the end of the film, Connor ends up with Olivia, even after having a child with Jenny. Connor and Olivia seemingly get back together after living apart, when Connor took care of his and Jenny’s daughter, while Olivia took care of hers. Olivia names her daughter Alice, after Connor’s grandmother, as Connor once hoped they should.
He learns about it only a few months after all the chaos at the hospital. Since then, Olivia had been trying to reach out to him, but he didn’t respond. So, once he realizes that Olivia honored his wish even after everything that happened between them, he kisses her. The film ends on that romantic note, leaving the fate of their relationship open for speculation.
Still, the writer/director ending the film at this specific point seems intentional. It ties into the overarching reflection on relationships and how they can transcend the barriers upheld by orthodox beliefs. After all, Connor wants to be with Olivia, even after realizing that Alice is not his daughter. It’s out of choice, not compulsion. The choice can be debatable, since he is technically the father of Jenny’s daughter. However, the film doesn’t say that he abandons one and chooses the latter. It leaves things open for interpretation, even for an unorthodox relationship beyond a conventional family of biological parents and their child.
The Threesome (2025) Movie Review:
Chad Hartigan’s new film might draw attention for apparent reasons related to its title, but unlike the suggestion, the film is not remotely crass or exploitative. Instead, it uses that incident simply as an icebreaker for its three central characters, who are only getting used to the newer challenges of adulthood. That turns the film into a tender and heartfelt character study of these 20-somethings, learning the nature of consequences. Ethan Ogilby’s script keeps their choices messy to reflect this awkward stage of their character growth. He shows them ruminating over their hopes and dreams as a less hopeful reality slowly inches toward them.
Hartigan feels more than suitable to handle a material like this, considering his charming 2020 directorial feature, “Little Fish.” He captures their dreaminess without mocking it and portrays their confusion with utmost compassion. While dealing with the seriousness of their affairs, he organically builds moments of situational humor. That balance is key in turning this dramedy about people falling in and out of love into a buoyant film. It also helps that Zoey Deutch and Ruby Cruz find so much heart in their characters, while Jaboukie Young-White becomes a hilarious presence without reducing Greg simply to comic relief.
Yet, despite their charm, the film feels repetitive after a point, as it explores Connor’s emotional state on a far deeper level than Olivia’s and Jenny’s. Deutch is so good that she makes it less noticeable, but as a viewer, you can’t help but see it as more of Connor’s story than of the three. It gets more upsetting at times when Connor’s mistakes get almost ignored to focus on his psyche, and you end up wondering why Olivia or Jenny is apologizing to him. While it ties into an age-appropriate immaturity, which is partially a point, the script falls short in making us empathize with the emotionally immature ones in those equations.
The Threesome (2025) Movie Themes Analyzed:
The Nature of Relationships and Adulthood
Chad Hartigan’s romantic dramedy uses its raunchy setup to contemplate the nature of relationships through its 20-something characters. It shows them making decisions on a whim without reflecting on implications. That complicates their lives since they can’t run away from their problems or ignore them, hoping they will go away. It forces them to reflect on the nature of relationships, whether romantic, marital, or sexual, and to understand how they fit into those equations. Connor, Jenny, and Olivia contemplate whether attraction or commitment is behind a lasting and/or sustainable relationship, while navigating where love comes into play in it.
