How Did This Get Made? - Open Marriage

Episode Date: January 20, 2023

This week Paul, June, and Jason break down the 2017 “erotic” thriller Open Marriage—a movie Paul insists felt sexy to watch at night but sad to watch during the day. They discuss the sex club inhabited by masked mannequins, bouncer/bartender Vulnavia, the wicker baby carriage, and how the characters mirror the White Lotus season 2 couples. Plus, June asks the question, “Is it appropriate to take a bath at a friend’s house?”  Go to www.hdtgm.com for tour dates, merch, and more.Follow Paul on Letterboxd https://letterboxd.com/paulscheer/HDTGM Discord: discord.gg/hdtgmPaul’s Discord: https://discord.gg/paulscheerCheck out Paul and Rob Huebel live on Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/friendzone) every Thursday 8-10pm ESTSubscribe to The Deep Dive with Jessica St. Clair and June Diane Raphael here: listen.earwolf.com/deepdiveSubscribe to Unspooled with Paul and Amy Nicholson here: listen.earwolf.com/unspooledCheck out The Jane Club over at www.janeclub.comCheck out new HDTGM merch over at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hdtgmWhere to Find Jason, June & Paul:@PaulScheer on Instagram & Twitter@Junediane on IG and @MsJuneDiane on TwitterJason is not on Twitter

The password is cumquat. We saw open marriage, so you know what that means. Now it's time for how to discriminate. We're gonna have a good time celebrating failure, not just be a hater. Could you know you wondered how to discriminate? Let's all win the mediocrity of subpar arts. Perhaps we'll find the answer to the question, how did this get made? Hello, people of Earth, and welcome to How Did This Get Made? I'm your host Paul Shear, aka Tall John, and today we are talking about another lifetime original film. This one is called Open Marriage, and it is about a couple who decides to have an open marriage, and then the dire consequences that come with it.

There are murders, guns, pregnancies, and sex clubs, so much to get into. Here to break it all down are my two co-hosts. Please welcome Jason Manzuchus and June Diane Rayfield. How are you both? Wow, this was a watch. This really explored open marriage I thought very fairly, very thoughtfully. Jason, when a woman is struggling with fertility, as so many women do, the first step is always open marriage. That's a very honestly tired narrative, because we just see it over and over again. This is maybe the most. Maybe the most I've ever stopped a movie while watching to make sure I was watching the right movie. I was certain multiple times I must be watching a different open marriage.

I not only stopped the movie twice, because I was like, oh no, this can't be it. I know we've done a lot of movies that revolve around sexual activity and complicated sexual activity. We've talked about fuck pillows here on the show, but this was, yes, pillows. Yeah, I said the same. I know. Don't worry about it. But this is the closest to porn that we've ever gotten to in a way without nudity. It is a cable of porn. It felt like a skinnamex type movie, but your intro is the first thing that clued me into that it was a lifetime movie. I was surprised to hear that it was a lifetime movie.

It seemed actually, though, both too sexy and not enough of a thriller or a romance to be a lifetime film. In terms of my standards for a lifetime. Oh, that's interesting, because I feel like, oh, because it's a lifetime film, that's why it didn't go further. Because I felt like it was like a porno or it felt like they were shooting a porno and then were like, okay, we're going to do one take where everybody does nothing at the end. Where the sex scene doesn't happen. Right. Well, there is this idea. I mean, there's so much going on here. While simultaneously having nothing going on. Nothing. I mean, there are six people in this movie.

And by the way, four main characters. Yes, three sets, one which do you recognize? One of the sets from the film. Okay, I did. Is there loft, the same loft as, you know, I'm not going to remember the movie we did, but there's another. Deadly photographer. Deadly photographer. Yes, yes. Yes. Is it the same loft?

Down to the lava lamps in the window. What? The same exact loft, the lifetime location manager, hard at work, knocking down another solid. They must just own, like this, these, they must just own these buildings. You know what I thought was weird though, like why not, why not choose a different exterior for that loft? Like that loft could be anywhere. Yes. And that exterior was like a strange spot in storefront.

It looks like an abandoned like store where you used to buy lights, like a light fixture. Yeah. It's a weird. It did not look presidential at all. No. And I know that's the point in some ways, but it just seemed very. That's not where people live. People don't live on a ground floor entrance loft. Like that is.

You couldn't get plumbing and the, it's just not zoned for that. It's like a building without windows. That's the other thing too. Like isn't a loft like part of it is there are windows like that. They look like an Adobe front. Like there was no front window to it. Yes. There was no light coming in except for on the second floor. That's where, like what would be the second floor?

That's where all the windows were. And what does this man do? That's pretty standard for lifetime lofts though, is that there's never any windows so they can shoot. Oh, yes. Yeah. Morning. They're shooting constantly. When he walked outside, he walked outside at one point and it was jarring. I forget what I thought it was.

I mean, this movie does shoot from night to day. Like when they meet that couple by the pool, they're very rich friend. They're, oh, we got to go. It's getting late. We got to talk about the introduction of this movie is basically the same as the season two of white lotus characters. This foursome is the same setup as Megan, Faye, Theo, James. I'm forgetting the other actor's name and Aubrey Plaza. The four of them, one couple is rich.

The guys are friends from college. There's a sexual frisson between them. Like there is... Are you accusing Mike Great? No. Down to the fact... Wiping off. Down to the fact that the rich couple says to the other couple, we never fight. That is episode one of White Lotus.

It's the same conversation. Let's listen to it. So being rich gives you guys better sex too? Come on guys. What's with you two today? Well, actually, that's the point. You see, it's not just us two. What's not just us two?

Yeah, what are you talking about? Mindy and I have been on an extraordinary adventure. We've opened our marriage. It's a whole new glorious world. Wait, so you guys are having sex with other people? Yes. Isn't that dangerous? Like playing with fire?

It is, but playing with fire is what makes it so hot. Until you get burned. I mean, that opening and the way that they talk to each other, I'm creeped out by this couple immediately. They seem like they are best of friends, but yet they've just met. Best of friends, worst of enemies. Wait, have they just met? Because I thought they all went to college together.

Yes, they all went to college together. They act like... Oh, they seem like they just met. Yeah, they seem like so static and they seem so formal. Well, there's no ease to them. There's no comfort. They don't seem to have a lived-in relationship. Mostly...

But isn't that the point? That's because they're like new again. You know, they've got that new sort of chemistry and texture of the relationship. They have that new money. Big sale on rodeo. Wendy's a blonde now because blondes have more fun. I wanted to straighten out her hair.

I was so happy when it was straightened at the end. Paul? I just felt like something was off. I like a curl. I like a frizz. But it felt like that wasn't... I felt like that was not her natural way of looking and she put that on and I was relieved at the end

when it was revealed that she actually had straight hair. See, I don't know if you're right about it. I never knew you to be so anti-curl first of all. This is upsetting because my hair is naturally curly and I never wear curly hair. It's not like that. June, you've said in the past that you like a bigger boy. Paul is here to say no curls.

It's really... I'm really surprised, Paul. I think that is her natural kind of curl. And in fact, when I saw her with straight hair, I was like, something's amiss. Oh, you see, I felt like everything worked. The actress is naturally curly. Producer Molly chiming in.

Okay, well, it also allowed us to... It allowed us and her... It allowed us insight when in later in the movie she becomes the straight-haired lady in white. She's doing a lot of work. I feel like that prop mask covered in feathers. They were like, no, more feathers. Put more feathers on it. Just so you know, there is a...

There's a thriller aspect to this film. We open up with a bloody alarm clock on the white carpet. The kind of clock that's made... You get it like a flea market. It's made of old pipes and screws. I was like, it looked like the worst thing in an antique store. The thing in the antique store that doesn't move. That's brand new.

It's literally assembled in... It's like from a flea market. It's crazy. Well, the hair's gonna come back into play because in that opening shot, we see a bloody... We see the bloody alarm clock. And then we also see a straight-haired blonde woman... In a white...

In a white negligee fall to the ground. And here's the thing. It's a thriller. Who did this? Who is dead? There are four people. Two of them are women and two of them are blonde. It's not... Well, don't forget about Angelique. Well, Angelique is not a blonde.

And Angelique is barely in this movie. Angelique is one line or two lines above background. There is... And she's great. Don't forget about the bouncer of Open for Business, Indiri or Indigo. What's her name? Her...

Oh, my gosh. This poor woman has to both let everybody in and man the bar herself. Vulnavia. Vulnavia. Vulnavia. Who runs the sex club, which is called Open for Business. Which, by the way, I love.

What is this place? Open for Business. It's an underground club. Mindy found it. There's this app called Caligula that shows all the nearest hotspots. For open-minded people like us. I wasn't expecting to do this with total strangers. Yeah.

Stop worrying. You can just watch. No pressure. Password. Come caught. I am Vulnavia. And we only have three rules here. Number one, anything. And I mean anything goes.

Number two, if anything doesn't go. Well, tonight's safe word is suspenders. And number three, have fun. Okay, I love this call over in business. I loved every single password in safe word. Yes. Every time I heard them, I was like, wow. This writer is so careless in so many other ways.

And the dialogue is so terrible. Except for the passwords in safe words. Yes. Suspenders. Come caught to suspenders. To Romeo. There was another password. There was one that was really simple.

It was like, I thought it was like balloons. It was like, wait, what? All of a sudden you didn't go sexual? I'm going to need to spend the next roughly hour discussing the fact that there's an app. It's a grinder. Is the app just to tell you what today's password is? But it also outs people who are,

what could make this sex club be shut down more than them just blasting out pictures from inside the sex club? And why are you allowed to take out your phone? That the mayor gets these photos? Okay. Obviously, by the way, the mayor is a thousand percent like on that app.

I don't know how what surveys would have gotten him those photos. So here's what I'm now thinking because in the beginning we find this couple and they have, are just recently rich people. So they've just like come into a lot of money because he sold a property on Rodeo Drive. The less specific, the better. Property on Rodeo.

Property on Rodeo. That's enough for me. But I'm now thinking like Mindy has probably made a lot of money creating the tech for that app and also having some sort of a stake in the club Caliglia. Wait, you think that Mindy is somehow the owner or co-owner or ghost owner of Club Caligula and that she...

And more importantly, the app. Right, because she is sending out the text. Yes. She seems to have control over the technology. Oh, wow. Okay. Whoa. And she is actually the lady in white

who is being worshiped at the club constantly. So is it her club? Because that house didn't make sense. I think it's her club. I think it's her app. And I think it's... Is this all a grand scheme? Is this all a grand scheme just to get?

Because this is also... Like this movie is, you're right. This movie wants to be an erotic thriller. It's about fatal attraction or basic instinct or something. And there's a little bit of single white female to it as well. Yeah. So is her whole...

Very little at the end, jammed in there. Is her whole plan just to do this whole... All these machinations just so that she can have Becca's life? Well, no. Or because she's in love with Becca? Well, wait. Hold on. Because then you would also have to say that...

What's her goal? Her goal would be like if... What you're saying is true, June, because what you're saying is things that happen that are true. But for this plan to have worked, she must have been like, I really...

I want an open relationship so much. What I'm going to first do is make the club in the app. Then I'm going to bring it and introduce it to my husband years after we've been together. So she's doing that on the side, gets her husband on board, and then pretends to be like, oh my gosh, I found this app.

But the truth is, she doesn't even really want to go to that club because she's already got her mind on the person that she wants anyway. Well, I never know why they really needed to go to the club, except for her to get collateral on Becca. They felt like the club was there only to damage them. They'd already opened up their marriages to each other.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, having never been to a sex club, do you frequently go to a sex club, find a room to have sex in, and fall asleep at the sex club? Is that how it works? When you go and you fuck on a couch at a sex club, do you then go to bed?

Listen, I believed, I was like, oh wow, this is so, what a perfect detail. That this guy fucks and immediately falls asleep. That's me lined up. But then I realized they are all asleep. Which made me think that LaVenia maybe drugged them. She's serving pretty strong sex on the beach and Harvey Wallbanger.

By the way, the best detail of the whole club was that they only serve sexually. You can't have a gin and tonic. You have to have a blow job. This is a sex club with a max, a maximum of seven other people and upwards of 10 mannequins wearing bondage gear. There are multiple shots where the people in the background

are a mixture of real people and mannequins. Which is one of my favorite episodes. I did not see that. Which was chilling. I did not see that at all. One of my favorite episodes of the scare tactics, which June and I think we've talked about on this show, about mannequins.

The best episode of television ever. But I will also say, there was a part of me that thought that this sex club could also be a vampire club because Volnavia, when she brings them in, is acting like that opening scene in Blade. I was like, are they going to be, are these vampires, why is Volnavia looking both ways?

Would have been incredible. I agree. That would have been incredible if there was, if there was, here's the thing. If there was more to anything, this movie would have been good. What I kept a misunderstanding was, what is this movie about?

And at the end of the day, the answer is nothing. There is no story to this movie. Events? Yes, there is. It's happening. The big story is, if you are an infertile man, boy, you need to loosen up, fuck your friend,

and then your chances of getting your wife pregnant will go up. That is the moral. The moral is, like, on some level. I think you're right. I think that his sperm was... Responded to the competition? Redicent.

Yes. His sperm was not, and I don't know the science to back this up, but I do think that's the story we were told. Yes. That because they were, they were sort of like having sex by rote, dude, they had no fire in it.

And I think on some level, his sperm was responding to that. Bored? Yeah. Yeah. My favorite... Until, you know... Yeah.

My favorite was when they cut to the backyard grill. The two dudes in this movie, never wear a shirt. Okay, Ron is more guilty. Ron is more guilty. Ron is never wearing a shirt. Football at home without a shirt, but Ron is never in a shirt.

Never shirted. But both of them... Did you see... Sorry to interrupt. No, go ahead. Did you see Ron's tattoo? How could you miss it, June? Okay, not the one, not that one.

There's another tattoo. There's the big one, obviously, but then there's... Oh, maybe not. There's a line of... There's a saying on his arm. Did you... Can you see what it says?

It just simply says... Oh, boy. Out of line. What? What? Open for business? Out of line. Out of line.

Incredible. And I was like, that's definitely the actor's tattoo. Oh, all of it is. Absolutely. Yes. I was fascinated by that. Out of line.

And health is never wearing a shirt. I wrote, put on a shirt, man. No way. I was like, thank God. They're both topless. They're both shirts off at the grill. And it starts with them. It starts with a close-up of the meat on the grill,

comes up to them. The two dudes just standing there, and Ron goes, so my fertility test came back. And I was like, this is incredible. Yes. It feels like this whole movie is a series of infomercials.

Okay. So I had a really weird experience where Paul and I were watching Paul T. Goldman last night, which I loved so much. Wow. Jason Walner's new show. Wild stuff.

Amazing. Wild stuff. And I fell asleep while watching it, and then Paul had switched over to this movie. And so I was sort of in a fugue state where I couldn't tell the difference between the reenactments of the movie that Paul T. Goldman is shooting

and this film. I get it. Because there were a lot of similarities where I was like the tone. Oh, the dialogue. The dialogue, it feels familiar. Yeah, it was very distressing. I mean, there are some moments here where,

when they first decide to open their marriage to their friends, they go over in a room that is the most stark, uncomfortable, unsexy room to have a foursome. And by the way, they don't have a foursome. They have, they swifeswap kind of. This is the weird thing that I didn't really understand. Like, to me, the rules of their open marriage

were we have to all be together, which I was like, I mean, honestly, to everyone, you know, to each their own. But I'm like, that's a really specific experience. Like, I just didn't understand why it wasn't up for grabs that they could each have their own experience. Like, why, it's an extra kink on a kink. It's a hat on the hat to be like, we all have to be in there.

Well, that's, but that's part of it. There's also a strange thing, which is like, those are Mindy and Max's rules, but Ron and Becca just adopt the exact same rules. They don't, there's no conversation about what are our rules going to be for this open marriage. It's just like, well, we're going to just, we're going to just do what, I guess,

we're going to do Mindy and Max and that's that, you know? Yeah, that's kind of what I wanted to say. It's like, not that, you know, these Mindy and Max and seem like two people you'd want to have sex with, but it's like, well, there are other people. If you decide you're going to have to open, have an open marriage, they're like, expand your imagination. They make it very clear.

Multiple times they make it clear to be like, hey, when we go to the sixth club, we're just there to watch. We're not going to get involved with anybody else. Now, everybody else in that club, or you see people in that club, two men are against one woman. But these guys, I mean, part of me is like, come on, let's get Ron and Max to kiss. Let's get Ron and Max to kiss.

Oh, you want to eat, you want to eat too, Mama Tom, be in this. I did, too. At the end, I really thought that was going to be the thing. I thought for sure. You guys have to boss each other. Well, you know how I knew that would never happen? Is that nobody kissed in this movie until minute 22.

I thought you were going to say because of the shoulder tattoos. This is the kind of movie that I would have found on cable in high school and been like, oh, shit, I'm going to watch this and I'm going to see some dirty stuff. And I would have been crestfallen that there not only wasn't dirty stuff, but it was boring. It was really boring. The sex scenes were so much so that I wrote a number of times

in my notes, is it possible this is a Christian or a movie that is like secretly not like there is no sex. There is no nudity. There is no cursing. It's a very, it's a very chaste movie for something that has such an erotic theoretically storyline. And can I also just add to that? This movie came out in 2017.

There's a tone here that feels very 90s. Well, 90s, I was going to say like a little like anti gay, like or the way. A little. I mean, yeah. Yeah. Dylan's basically like all homosexuals are in open marriages. Yeah.

And he also says in gay land, he says like in gay land, we all fuck each other. And then dances off to like a Lady Gaga concert. No, it was absolutely offensive. And he's like, yeah, in gay land, everyone fucks each other except if you're ugly. Well, here's what I'll say to the movie's benefit. It's clear that he's in the best relationship in this movie.

Sure. Very sure. But he also seems to be like. Dylan's husband is at his work. And honestly, if I trust anyone to like raise a child, it's Dylan. Oh, yeah. The husband who we never heard speak. Okay.

When we, when they cut to the husband, Dylan's husband, I was my jaw dropped. I was like, that's him. Why not? Why make him such as like a slab kebab? Like why? He looks like a biker. He looked like he was a background from a biker movie.

I'm not going to shame Dylan for Dylan's taste. I think their relationship seemed wonderful. I believe in them. I do too, actually, Jason. I do too. Well, we're just talking about Dylan. Just want to reference that Dylan is, you know, the friend of our main character, Becca.

And they work in a critical care unit. At one point, Ron calls her and says, hey, don't work too hard. And I thought to myself, she's working in a critical care unit in the hospital. Like work hard. Yeah. Absolutely. Put some time in.

That's something you say to someone on like the factory line. Yeah. Don't work too hard. Well, she really just seems to be working in the reception. And he's at home watching the game, eating Doritos out of a glass bowl. Okay. You know what I did have?

I did have the thought though. I was like, you know, if you were, if you weren't about to embark on like a major, like sexual escapade with a new partner and this and that, like the worst thing I would think for a man is to have your back go out. And I wish they had explored that more. Like what? Cause he, his back seems to really be recovering.

Oh yeah. He's been, he's got like, his workman's comp ran out. He's already gone through all the months of workman's comp and he's still recovering. But I need to break this down too, because he seems to fluctuate between being an industrial development construction worker and a literal construction worker.

Cause his injury seems like, oh yeah, I got my back is out from my construction work. But then he's making a bid to the mayor, which means like, okay, so you are on the line, but you also are in the trailer. Well, that's very Marcus the monist of him. Yeah. But if you want him, he's the boss, you know,

and he, he's, he, he's a hundred percent in charge. Yes. Um, yeah. No, I agree. Shirtless Ron is, is taught, is simultaneously just fixing cabinet doors in the loft while also putting in bids for city contracts that the mayor signs off on.

It is. That seems like a Cushman Wakefield, which is maybe an LA reference, but like that seems like a giant corporation back. Yes, we got the permit to build Staples center. Yes. He's a developer? No, I think, well, that's what they're saying.

He's basically saying, who's putting in bids? You never have to work again in your life. But that's why, that's why I think he's so dumb because I think essentially he got, he got a job. You guys to build a community center, which to me, I'm like, that's not a high rise. That's a one floor.

Like I see it as like a rec center type area, maybe a basketball court. Like that's indoor, outdoor gym. I think it's both. I think it's like an indoor outdoor type of thing, but that's not, he's not building a bridge. He's building a community center. But the city money.

A bathroom. But that's it. I agree. She never has, well, okay. Yeah, I think a bathroom. I think a woman's bathroom or two bathrooms at most. I mean, they are in the city of Los Angeles. Maybe a little snack area.

That's it. I mean, the way that he's talking about it and the way that he seems to really be like rolling up his sleeves with the mayor, so much so that the mayor, when the mayor gets the text that outs him as, I guess, I don't even understand. I don't think the mayor got that text.

I think the mayor is also friggie as fuck. Whatever it is on the app. Is this LA? But yeah, I think it's LA. So you're telling me Ron is bidding Ron, who is unemployed, or not unemployed, but on Workman's Com with a back injury, is making city bids on a level that,

okay, this is absolute nonsense. I want the movie that's not about their open marriage, that's about their business prospects. I want to know what is Max up to? What is he selling on Rodeo Drive? And what is Ron building? And can he also, by the way, what I would be if I was Ron,

I would be like, Max, please stop offering your wife to fuck me. I'd rather build your next project. Yes. And collaborate. Again, White Lotus season two. White Lotus season two. I'm not kidding, it's so weird. But here's the thing.

We got to watch that, June, but here's the thing. When you watch it, literally your minds are going to explode at how much overlap there is. It's so funny. Wait, wait, but now I just want to get to this detail. The mayor fires him for going to a sex club. Underground sex club.

I mean, but is that illegal? Why wouldn't you want... What a big question, too. Are sex clubs illegal? Because the way that Volvania is looking around, like you said, Paul, it's as though the cops are coming. It's as though they're going to get caught.

Like, are sex... I don't think there's anything... It's also, you know what? The email blast or text blast that gets sent out is only to the people in the group. It's not like it was reported in the media, like city contract or caught in sex scandal. So wait, so you're saying...

Okay, so are we to understand... Yeah, sex clubs are illegal. Are illegal. No, legal. Yeah. Legal. Interesting. Okay.

Good to know. Here's my question though. And here's our announcement that we are opening one. A lot of people wonder why we don't have more merch. If you've gotten the drop dead Fred Vine will come here at our sex club. When each of those four show up, is Volvania giving them QR codes to download the app?

Are they giving... How did they get... How did they get... And is Volvania the only employee, period? For real. She's doing a lot of work. She's taking her time. I think Mindy is taking...

I think Mindy is in cahoots with her. Well, Mindy who we... Look, we reveal at the end that Mindy is the woman in the white peacock. Like everyone in this club is fully out and about. But then there's one woman it's like in a eyes wide shut feathery bird mask. And we don't know who that is.

It's odd that she's the only one with the mask on. But also she seems to be the mask on. She seems to be the mask on. There are some background people wearing masks. There are some people in the background wearing masks. And a number of the mannequins are also wearing masks. And I'm not kidding. Okay.

So when you say there are mannequins there, are we supposed to think they're people because it couldn't get extras? Or are they just actual mannequins? I don't know. But I believe maybe a little of both. Because like in wide shots, it's clear that it looks more crowded.

But then in some shots right over someone's shoulder is a clear mannequin in like a sexy get up. I need to see this again. It is fucked up. The wicker baby carriage is maybe the greatest prop that and the flea market clock. The wicker baby carriage is so... That is straight from a props.

That is straight from a lifetime. A lifetime movie that was set in olden days. That's like, no, that's the answer. That's like from the banshees of Enishmore. It's like, it is like, you know, it's like a real... It's like an end of green gables. Gables. My favorite movie.

Baby carriage, of course. But this whole movie is like, it feels like used parts because even when the two women, the ladies who lunch, go to speak, they use an exterior of a barbeque restaurant? Like, I couldn't think of a worse place to go talk about your... Oh, boy. I would love if they were just having ribs while talking about their open marriage.

It's like, come on. It's really weird though. Like, I was trying to figure out, so Mindy, she has a storyline throughout, which is that she's trying to lose weight. Now, by the end, would she deliver... Is that a character want, June? When you're working on a character

and you want to find that character... Well, but this is what I couldn't understand. It's like, she wants to lose weight to look like Becca, but she is thinner than Becca. So it was very strange. Well, the single white female of it didn't make any sense because Mindy is the high status character. So it was confusing why she was wanting to be Becca,

who's in her own life struggling and trying to figure out with fertility, with money, with her marriage, all of these things. So I'm not sure why Mindy was obsessed with her other than it was predicated on college. Yeah, maybe it's because she was so normal. I could have used a flashback. I would have loved to have known more about Mindy.

But here's the thing, it didn't seem like she wanted to have her life. She just wanted to fuck her husband. Like, it wasn't like when she goes, I'm your biggest female. She only wanted to fuck her husband, Paul, because that's what Mindy does. No, that's what Becca does.

I'm sorry, that's what Becca does. That's why she's sending Becca the flowers. That's why she's obsessed with Becca. They all think she's obsessed with Ron, but she's obsessed with Becca. But my question is like, but beyond fucking Becca's husband, what else is there?

I mean, because the only thing that we get is this. Who's the protagonist? I think it's Becca. Who's this movie about? Is it a movie about Becca or no? I don't think it is. I think it must be Tilky. I think it is.

Or no, it must be, sorry. Tilky is his name. It must be Ron. Ron's story because we introduced to Ron with a couple of problems. Ron's got a bad back. Ron doesn't have enough money. Ron has low teen issues. Yeah.

So like Ron's girlfriend, wife leaves him. Like all the issues really are Ron's problems. I just agree. I feel like it's, we've got Becca, who's got an out of work fiance, wants to have kids, is worried about her finances, is working overtime at the hospital, slash doctor's offices.

It seems like she has way more problems than Ron. And sadly, it's about neither of them. Like that's the movie's biggest problem is, we realize that Mindy is the antagonist and that her attention seems to be on both of them. But the movie has no real arc. Well, here's the weird part though. If you think about Ron and Becca before this proposition,

I actually, I do agree with the movie on this one part piece, which is I think that Ron and Becca will be happier having gone through this. I don't think they would have made it at all. Had they not? No. Well, also I think they're doomed. I don't know, Jason.

I do think there's a lot of trauma. I do. I don't think the open marriage did, but I think the trauma, by the way, my favorite part of the whole movie was when Ron shook the hand of the police officer before he left. And I love that that's it. Like the police just walk out. That's it.

We did it. You don't have to come to the station. Nope. Hey, we got a murder in here. We got a report of a murder in here. Okay, see you later. Becca, Becca in one night, murders her best friend with a flea market clock

then finds out her husband is the father of her baby. By the way, what the fuck is happening? I will also say that Mindy shoots that gun multiple times in that apartment. And we saw the exterior. We saw the exterior. There's no windows. It sounds...

And also, gunshots are no thing there. You might be right that that might be the best part of Ron's performance. I'm going to say the best part of Mindy's performance was the party at the end of the movie before she reveals herself to be the killer. And she turns to her audience, a crowd of people, and goes, let them eat cake.

Yes. And everyone's like, yay. It would be like it was so... She's not engaging them. No one's looking at her. She just says, let them eat cake. And everyone's like on board. It's not a sex party.

It's nothing. What is... Like what control does she have over there? And I felt like that party, too, because they're both... Becca is wearing the gold dress. They're both in these gold sparkly dresses that Mindy has bought for both of them. And it's Mindy's birthday.

But it felt like that scene was going to build to something. No. And it just doesn't. Nothing ends up happening at the birthday. I thought for sure that dress was going to lead us somewhere. That would be significant. It was seated earlier. So here we are.

We're at that. We're finally at the dress scene. And nothing happened. Nothing. I couldn't figure any of the motivations out. There's something very strange about these people. Like even Becca, who I connected the most to Becca in her story. Yes.

I'm still not sure if Becca did have... Do you think she had unprotected sex with Max? Or... Yes. She definitely did. Well, that was Becca's plan. Becca's plan that... I believe this is...

Yeah, this is the sad part. Becca's plan... Okay, see, I sort of zoned out here. This is what I didn't pick up on. So what we find out... She planned to get pregnant with his baby. She planned the open marriage, the entire open marriage thing. So she could get pregnant.

So she told Max... Even before she knew... Correct. That he had... Oh, wow. Because when you hear it, like listen... Now I'm upside down. When she announces her pregnancy at the sex club...

To Max. To Max. Yes. To Max. That's when I was like, oh... I came here to tell you it's over. Just because Ron called it off? No, because I'm calling it off.

The four of us might be off, but not me and you. Remember, this was your idea. This wasn't about you and me, Max. You don't have to do this anymore. I'm pregnant. That's what you wanted, isn't it? Yeah, of course. So then I guess it is her movie.

Because she's got the motivation behind it. That she is... The machinations are hers. I can't believe that. Okay, so she... Wow. So it is pretty wild then that it is Ron's baby. Oh, yeah.

But she didn't know that Ron had a 1% chance of not being able to conceive when she did have unprotected sex. She just wanted to get checked out because she's been poppin' those fertility pills. Maybe more of a villain than Mindy? It's really true because... Can you just pop those? I think they're just prenatal vitamins. But if you haven't had sex in three months,

where are you taking these supplements? Right, it's not like he's doing the one thing you need to do. He's also pushing them on her. He's really pushing those prenatals on her. He's like, take the pills, take the pills. But if they're not fucking, they can't do anything. Well, he wants to fuck, but she's kind of shrugging it off. Isn't she in the beginning?

In the very beginning. I thought she's shrugging off the vitamin eating. Because she's like, I think that she's... I thought maybe she was worried about his back. I thought his back was out from fucking too much because they wanted to get pregnant. That's workman's comp. I mean, there you go.

So wait, now was Max in on this plan? I mean, he was, right? Yes. And that's why she's like... Oh God, I missed a lot of this movie. Max was in on getting her pregnant? It's just that one scene where they kind of... I miss this. When Max meets Becca at the club

and they have their talk, what's revealed in that scene is that Becca's plan has worked. She hatched a plan for Max to suggest that they have an open marriage with them so that she can fuck Max so that she can get pregnant. Oh my God, I really miss this. And she says to him, I'm pregnant.

So that means this all needs to stop. And he says, well, congratulations. Your plan worked, blah, blah, blah. But he's kind of upset because now it appears he's fallen for her. Just like everybody else in the movie is in love with Becca? Question mark?

Yeah, I mean, how could you not be, you know? I would also like the readers to source if they could. Has this gym been used in other lifetime movies? Oh, this gym, which is kind of like, it feels like it's trying so hard. Like, I feel like this was also repurposed in a movie where a kid did drugs for the first time. It's like graffiti, but it's like safe graffiti.

And they're in there working out, but they're also talking about sex. I also thought that there was going to be something that was going on between a random gym goer and Mindy, because there was a real connection because she was cutting to him. Yeah, and she shows up at the gym. And why not have the gym people also come to Club Caligula?

You know, like a bit, I mean, I guess, I guess probably because they couldn't pay more action. Because she only wants to fuck Ron. I guess so. And she only wants to fuck Ron. I think she wants to fuck Becca, because she starts to make two. She wants to fuck Becca.

That's what's so weird. She starts to start making passes at Becca, those slight kisses and innuendo and that. It felt, again, that's your, not anti-gay, but like I felt like that's as gay as it was able to go for them. Well, it was the hint of it. They would be side by side because that scene

was calling for the two of them to kiss. Not Ron and Max, but Becca and Mindy, because like when she gets in her face like that, but then you reveal that the plan is they're just going to fuck each other's husbands literally side by side, which they have been doing all... Yeah, but not side by side.

And not while Mindy holds a gun. So that's different. Those are the two different factors. Side by side and the element of like, you know, the stakes of someone shooting someone. The gunplay in this movie is wildly irresponsible and mirrors in a lot of ways the same gunplay that was done in that loft in the photographer movie.

That's right. Yeah. Here's what I want to talk about. If you're heading to your friend's house just to go to like a fuck night where all of you are gonna fuck each other. First of all, I'm like, I wouldn't want to sleep over. It's like, let's all go back to our...

Yeah, they packed a bag. They packed a bag. They were ready to sleep over. And I know they initially said like, do you want to sleep over? Okay, that's what I want to talk about. In what world, first of all, I don't even think I'd ever feel comfortable

getting into someone else's bath ever. Yeah. Even if like, like I just don't think that a bath to me is, and I love baths, but that's like so intimate. And the fact that Becca, upon waking up, gets into a bubble bath at her friend's house... A morning bubble bath.

A morning. Now, I do know one woman in my life who takes a bath every morning. Interesting. What? Instead of a shower. She's a makeup artist that we probably have all worked with, lovely person,

and she has super early call time. Sometimes she's on set at like 4.50. But she has said that she can't wake up. She can't get her day going unless she sits in a bath and she bathes herself in there. Wow. And I do think a lot of women who don't want their hair to get wet...

Okay. ...do bathes quite a bit. I guess I understand not wanting your hair to get wet. I would like the listeners to weigh in on how often are you bathing versus showering. I will say I could not tell you the last time I took a bath. Same.

No, well, you're both missing out. I'm always trying to get on the bath. He's never interested. But I love taking a bath. But I also don't know about taking a bath to bathe. No. You've got to take a shower afterwards. You're just sitting in a soup of your own stink.

You're treating a bath like a hot tub, right, Junie? Pretty much, yeah. That's like a self-care, you know, putting your stuff in. It's a lot more about relaxing. It's a lot more about relaxing than it is cleaning up like a shower. Now, have I been on a Zoom call or two in the bath? Oh, boy. Off camera?

Yeah, I have. What? So... How many episodes of this podcast have we recorded with you in a bath? I just don't know. By the way, I've definitely watched a few movies. Yeah, but that's different. I get that.

Yeah. I'll tell you this much that going over there, that house was, in many respects, very unfurnished. They probably did just move in, but they did put, like, again, like what Jason said, they found old props, like a giant cattle horn in the middle of the, of this living room, this fuck living room, the couches, no carpeting, no nothing. It was so empty and barren, it was like so hard to even find places to fuck in there. And then the only thing that they make the whole piece about before they have sex, before they get in the bath, and not even together, is, you know, Becca looks at a painting and

she goes, oh, is this new? And he's like, you got a good eye. No, she doesn't have a good eye. She just recognized, like, a good eye is like, oh, I love the, I love the strokes here. It looks like this or that. That's like a good eye. She's like, you remembered the place and you've now seen a new thing. It's not a good eye.

It's like. Well, you know what was so crazy about that, the beginning scene, because, you know, it is, it is pretty wild to have to start off like an orgy situation like that. But I'm like, the lighting was so bright. It's like they had every light on in that living room. Yeah, they were. They were also in a vibe. So well lit.

Like, did they? No candles, no wine, no. And it also, it also felt like, and I couldn't figure out why they did this because I felt like the movie wanted you to believe in the inherent sexiness of this indecent proposal kind of like titillating, we're going to have an open marriage. And when they hard cut to the, the couples at the house for the first time, it's awkward. It's creepy. It's silent.

It's so bright. It's silent, bright and uncomfortable and the movie's telling us, this is bad. This is bad behavior. I feel like the movie, I feel like the movie is, is actually very judgmental. I feel like it's very judgmental about open marriages. I feel like the movie is anti open marriages is anti openness. I feel like the movie is a cautionary tale about this stuff because what happens is someone's going to try and murder you.

Well, yeah, I think it's, it's. It's conservative. I feel like the movie is conservative. It's a vampire. But here's the other thing, the better version of this movie ultimately is two couples who are at their wits end or they're, something's not going well for them. And they both decide, why don't we have an open marriage? But we set up the other couple as being like, now we have an open marriage and now there's

nothing to fight about, but they seem as unknowledgeable about it as our main characters. It's like, they're not leading them in any way. They're just kind of like, it just seems like. Listen, we've all watched real sex. We know how this works. Yeah. You know, like none, like the none of the conversations makes sense. Nobody seems like they really want to be doing this.

Like they all seem like almost unwilling participants, you know, there's a line, a line that kind of encapsulated it for me was at one point when they're talking the two women, she says, you know, oh, I would never cheat and you're like, oh, because I love my husband. She goes, no, I would never cheat because of my prenup. Yeah. And it's like, oh, like, oh, like that, that really like, like opened it up for me. It was like, oh, so you don't, like there's a way around the, the way around the work around is we're not cheating.

We're having sex with together so that the prenup is not triggered, right? So that the way they've, the rules, the rules for again, the rules for Mindy and Max are based on their actual life and marriage. But then when applied to Becca and Ron are not applicable, like they're, they don't have a prenup. They don't have to. They can play by rules that they create that are, that are better for them as both individuals and as a married couple through open and honest communication, something that nobody in this

movie is interested in having, except for Volvania. Well, Volvania just speaks in like weird, Volvania is up to wordplay. Well, here's the weird thing though is like, I do think that for Ron and Becca, like they can't have a baby unless they're having sex and when we meet them, they're not having sex. So this does sort of ignite them. And so they're able to like have a baby because of it. But ultimately, like the, there's nothing, what's so weird about this movie is like,

it doesn't present that first scene, that hard cut into that bright ass living room, like doesn't present a world in which, to us, the viewer in which you could understand getting sucked into this. You could understand like being a regular person who is like, who is titillated by this idea and fantasy. And it's just so clear that this is uncomfortable and that none of us would ever want to be in that living room. Yeah.

With that lighting. Exactly. That's how I mean it's conservative. Like it's, none of it is attractive. It's just forcing these people through the machinations of this. And then they're, the results are deadly. Like the results are murderous. Like you better.

If you go to that sex club, you will be found out and you're like, you will lose your livelihood. And like it was also like there are penalties for everything. If you open yourself up to this kind of thing, even, even if you consent to it, you will be punished. Like any kind of divergent sexual needs, wants or anything you, you participate in, you will be somehow punished for, you know, ever have fun in this world. That was my big takeaway. I don't think, well, that's the thing is like, I think Volvani is the, and the mannequins

are the only people having fun in this world. I mean, honestly, the most fun they seem to have or the most like is when they're asleep, like snuggling up to these other people in separate rooms, but for a movie that's so much about, or when they fall asleep in the sex club, but that's so much about sex. Like when they do, like when, after the first scene in which Max and Mindy tell them about open relationship, open marriage, et cetera, et cetera. And Becca and Ron go home and they're so charged up from hearing about it, they end up having sex, right?

And they haven't had sex in a while. And the sex scenes, like final moment, the, the, the come shot of their sex scene is just her bra landing on the floor. That bra landing straight up like slo-mo landing on the, that's like as hot as it gets is a bra hitting the, not anybody's body is a bra hitting the floor. Like it's almost like, can you imagine how hot this is? But I also feel like that bra, and not that like, no, I'm not knocking this at all after I've taken a horrible takedown on curly hair was like, it was a really horrible fall.

I agree with, you know, Molly, like I thought her hair was beautiful. Loved it. I liked her better with the straight hair. I don't think, hashtag, give me, hashtag, give me those curls, baby. Wow. But I don't, I don't think anything less of a, by the way, certain people I think look better with curly hair. I'm just saying, if she was to ask me, what do you prefer?

And we were having a casual conversation around the pool with red wine in the afternoon, as one does red wine and an afternoon outdoor hot day is what I always like to drink out in the, out in the hot sun with a, with a, with a absolutely roasting glass of hot red wine. I would say. I'm sorry. Could you, could you microwave? Argentinian caverné.

I love, it's like, you know, like sometimes like somebody will like put an ice cube in their white wine. I would love it if someone was like, I'm so sorry. Could you take this Pinot Noir and just nuke it for 15 seconds in the microwave, please? Um, boy, oh boy, I, hey, yeah, yeah, this movie, this movie, I just want to play one more time the clip of Mindy's reveal because this reveal is, I think, you know, we talked a lot about Mindy was amazing and incredible, incredible, real, real villain, a real villain turn.

Wait, you're the one who put our pictures on the Collegial app guilty as charged. Why would you do that to Ron? He lost his job over it. This thing you've got for Ron has got to stop right now. You think that all of this is about Ron? Yes, sweetheart, you're obsessed. You're damn right. I'm obsessed.

But not with Ron. I'm your secret admirer. When she says, I'm your secret admirer, incredible, incredible, genuinely spooky, but again, I will say this. Why? Why? What's the story? What is Mindy's story?

Well, we don't know. Why is this happening? We won't ever know, Jason. I know. But we won't ever know. I think that Mindy is sort of like a demented person and there are something very basic about Becca. And this part of Mindy I could understand that sometimes they see wine moms and sort

of your basic women on Instagram or whatever, and there's sort of a fascination with their lives. And I think because Becca is so bland and is so normal, there's sort of a fascination with her. But here's what I'll say. I understand that, but I think I'm going to say that the movie is arguing, again, I will say a very conservative agenda, which is that anybody who wants you to open up your marriage to have sex out of your marriage, anybody who wants that kind of wildness must

be like also capable of murder. They are a bad person who are they're trying to destroy your life. And the only way that you can succeed is to kill that person. And your reward will be that your husband's cum works. Well, I mean, I do listen, I do think that I'm sorry, I will say this, I've never seen I've known several people have opened up their relationships, not necessarily marriages, but relationships. I've never seen it work out well.

It's never going to work out well. Now, this is the thing though, it's like that date is also hard because it's like most relationships don't work out. So I think it's very challenging to do and to me, one out of four people who are open to open marriages becoming a murderer is I actually thought that the house conservator. But I think it is conservative in the other way. No. You know what I mean?

Like I think it's I think the movie is I think the movie is espousing to its lifetime mom audience conservative values, which is these people are dangerous, right, these people who have these ideas are dangerous, they don't just want to fuck you, they want to stay in your committee. They want your life. They want your normal vampires, they're murderers, they're bad people and they want you to stay in a committed relationship and having babies and having the man be the primary breadwinner. God damn it, this movie is about that.

And also everyone is jacked, everyone in the movies fucking jacked. Everybody in this movie looks great all the time. They are at they are always at like peak physical. Like they must have done 50 push-ups right or sit-ups right before each take. Everybody is like ready to go. Even when Mindy is pointing a gun at them and forcing them all to fuck at the end of the movie, the guys are like they're fucking their chests and abs are popping. They are jacked.

Seeing Ron sit on the couch like eating Doritos and eating pizza, I'm like, no, no, I'm so sorry. You don't have that body and put like any bit of processed anything into it. That's why he didn't question the prop person when they brought over a bullet. He's like, oh, yes, that's how people would eat a Dorito. They would measure out. I could have one fourth of a cup of Doritos while I watch my football game, while I drink my gluten free beer.

That is that is how somebody who's in that good shape would eat Doritos. They'd be like, I can have seven Doritos a night. That's my god. God, it's so sad. Like as much as I admire that type of like physical, you know, discipline, I'm just like, what a way to live. What a way to live. Oh, yeah.

But you know what? It's a different movie, but there are people out there with a different opinion. It is now time for second opinions. Obviously it's a lifetime movie. Not many reviews out there. The average rating is about three out of five. There's only 26 reviews, like I said, 32 percent are five star reviews. And here we'll just jump right into it.

This one was from Rose Sharper and Rose writes, I love this. Please put it out on DVD to buy. Need to make more five stars than this one. I agree. I'd love another. I'd love a continuation. I'm ready to go. The Real T-Bone writes on August 30th, 2022.

Fun plot. Check. Fun cast. Check. We need more movies like this, five stars. And then I've started. I don't disagree. I am on Letterbox.

I love Letterbox. It's like a social media for film watchers and Letterbox. This is from Seabody and Seabody goes, I said I'd give it five stars if he fixes the cabinet door. And he did. So five stars. Amazing. Amazing.

You go. Those are some five star reviews from Open Marriage. But I want to give you some details about this movie. This movie was written by Jason Byers. Jason Byers wrote Bad Nanny and The Trist, aka The Husband, The Wife and Their Lover. Those are his two latest films that both came out in 2022. But not to be confused with the Peter Greenaway movie, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, which is also a very, which is truly a very erotic movie.

And talking about erotic films, Sam Irvin, the director, was a producer on Gods and Monsters. Yes, that Gods and Monsters with Brendan Fraser. Great movie. But then directed movies like Mile High Escorts. Check into Christmas. Well, that doesn't seem like a sexy one. I love that you started saying that title in a sexy way and then bailed when you got to Christmas.

I know. I thought they were all going to. Check into. Oh, Christmas. Engaged to a Psycho and Guilty as Charged. Engaged to a Psycho. Yes. Oh my God.

It was also shot under the working title of To Have and To Kill. So there you go. With this movie. This movie was. Yeah, before it became open. Kill. To have and to hold. Interesting.

To have and to kill. Yeah. I mean, and the tagline for this movie with a 69% rating on Rotten Tomatoes was, some relationships shouldn't be shared. Ooh, there it is. Huh. I mean, can't get any better than that. A cautionary, that's again, some relationships shouldn't be shared is again, it's a commentary

on open marriages in a negative way. It's saying you shouldn't do this. It is between two people, period. If you open it up, you will get shot or conked in the head by a flea market clock. Like the movie is decidedly anti-opinion. And when she does hit her with that flea market clock, there's a moment where she doesn't seem at all injured from a. Holy shit.

That was so funny. Mindy is like, wait, what? She looks, raises the gun, and at that point I'm like, hit her again, hit her again. Hit her again. Somebody, somebody grabbed the gun. Yes. Everybody just sits there watching her kind of woozily, like, you know, woozily, hold her head looking confused, like, did someone just conk me in the head?

We're trying to kill you, you psycho, because what's the end game of that? They all fuck, and then what would have happened? Yeah. Yeah. What would have, what is Mindy's plan? Again, I went in these other movies in the fatal attractions and the single white females, I get what the plan is. What is Mindy's plan?

What is her character want? And that is what I'm struggling. I totally agree. Everything else makes total sense. And the movie works out perfectly. Would you recommend watching this movie? I definitely would. I don't know.

I kept waiting, I kept wanting it to tip into a movie I wanted to be watching. It was fun, but I kept wanting it to be a little bit more itself. But when you said lifetime, I understood what it was. Let me tell you one thing too, and I want to hear, June, what you think about this. But I'll say like, I watched half of this movie at night and half during the day. When I watch it at night, it felt sexy. When I watch it during the day, it felt sad. And there is a little interesting, I was like, ooh.

And then I watch it in the morning. I was like, oh. Huh. It was a little, like, it was a different vibe going on in the morning. Watching this. I mean, obviously, I watched it in the sauna bin. I did not find this movie to be sexy. Okay.

No. Yeah. No, not at all. And boy, did I want it to be. I wanted it to be like a Red Shoe Diaries entry with, like, DeCovney. I mean, so June, not a recommendation, huh? No, not a recommendation. Okay.

There we go. Not for me either. All right. Only me. Jason, June, before we go, is there anything you want to talk about? Anything you want to plug? Anything you want to tell the good people out there to watch, do, listen to? I'll throw a Star Trek prodigy.

Jason's great on that. Just finished our, just finished our season. It's a terrific show. Please watch. Please watch. And I am watching. The only thing I'll say I'm watching that I'm really enjoying is Paul T. Goldman, Jason Wollner's show on Peacock.

Oh, yes. And he is a guest on our last look, so you'll hear from Jason about that. If you've not watched it, it's, it's, it's really great. The short pitch is it's a true crime story, a parody of a true crime story, a documentary, a documentary about a documentary, and kind of a launch. I would say just watch it. It's so much. Yeah, just watch it.

And it's so interesting and the discovery of having not known anything about it. I have been so enjoying it. Well, I mean, yeah. I will also, I will also shout out and I have no involvement in it, but I'm loving the show High School, the Tegan and Sarah story that Clea Duvall has been making at Freevy. It is fantastic and deserves a much bigger audience than it's getting. So please get out there and watch. And I'll also just shout out that Rob Hubel and I hosted this thing called Celebrity

Yard Sale. We did it over two nights here in Los Angeles, like a live show where celebrities came and sold their shit. And we had great people on the show. You can check that out on my YouTube page. People like Nicole Byer, Carl Tartt, Kameil Nanjiani, Ben Lee did a musical performance, Otsuko Akaska came on, so many people I'm forgetting that we all the people that we had. So definitely check that out.

We're on my YouTube page. There you go. You can watch the whole thing. And a big thank you to our amazing team, our producers, Scott Sonny, Molly Reynolds, our engineer, Alex Gonzalez, and our movie picking producer, Averill Halley, and our publisher July Diaz. We will be back with more How Did This Get Made next week for Last Looks. Bye for now.