Ho Hard Feelings Plot Summary
No Hard Feelings kicks off with a scene that propels the story forward immediately. Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) storms outside of her house to see her car being towed. She needs her car; it’s the tourist season, and she Ubers rich kids all over the town she grew up in and never left. This creates the perfect moment for what she needs to do to get back on her feet.
Maddie spots a Craigslist ad that reveals that the owner of the car is in need of someone to date their son. Maddie takes the meeting and agrees to the terms that she will pretend to date a nineteen-year-old boy in exchange for a green Buick.
Who does Maddie pretend to date?
Maddie links up with Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). A soon to be Princeton student who lacks social skills and dating skills. Her initial moves on Percy feel over the top but warranted. Everyone has had someone come on too strong, so it’s certainly a relatable moment.
The two have a hilarious first date moment as Maddie decides to take Percy skinny dipping at the beach. While out on the water, a group of drunk kids steal their clothes and wallet. Thus, this leads to Maddie running after them naked and beating them up.
There are more funny social interactions, but Percy’s moment to shine is when the two are on a date and he shows off his piano skills. “Maneater” by Hall and Oates is referenced in an earlier scene, and here Percy plays a softer version of it on the piano.
Do Percy and Maddie break up?
As the two lead characters become close with one another, a real bond seems to be formed between the two. We learn a lot about their baggage. Maddie had a father who never wanted her. He had an affair outside of his family in New York with her mother.
Percy had an embarrassing moment in ninth grade that made people shy away from him, so he just remained closed off. These flaws make them develop some sort of connection, but the inventible happens: they break up.
This happens when Percy is in his Dad’s Tesla and clicks onto his phone via his car and hears him and Maddie talking about the arrangement. And what comes after any third-act breakup? The montages of our leads getting their act together and experiencing personal growth.
How does Percy grow?
Percy shifts his focus to Princeton, and keeping his helicopter parents at bay. Maddie pays off the lean on her mother’s house that she lives in and sells it. After some repairs, she gets the Buick on the road. Since she has her stuff together, it’s time to reach out to Percy and tell her how she feels.
Do Percy and Maddie get back together again?
Going into No Hard Feelings and knowing that a two-time Academy Award winner had top billing on the film, you’d think this wouldn’t feel like a run-of-the mill comedy, yet it is. Maddie rushes to a Princeton networking event and tells Percy how she feels. Yet there is no clear sign of them becoming a couple. However, there is a sense of understanding, and that they may stay close over time.
Maddie moves to California; there’s no reference earlier in the film as to why she would move there, but on her way, she offers to drive Percy to college. Roll credits.
We can deduce from this that Maddie and Percy don’t end up together, but they also don’t really seem to part ways either. There’s no head nod to know where they stand with one another when the film ends, and although one could argue they stay friends and don’t date, it’s all rather generic and yet confusing.
Still, it’s open to interpretation; what do you guys think? Agree with us? Or disagree? Let us know in the comments!
Read More: No Hard Feelings (2023) Movie Review
Is nobody going to mention the song they used when the rolled the end credits?
I’ll take my chances babe I’II risk it all
I’ll win your love or I’II take the fall
I’ve made my mind up girl it’s meant to be
Someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me
If gender roles were reversed there the parents would be more demonized, Jennifer Lawrence’s character would be predatory and Percy, if it were a woman, would be the victim. Filth
When Percy damaged the car it was still titled to his parents, they should have had it repaired under their insurance, they could afford the deductible and Maddie more than lived up to her end of the bargain. In the end Percy owed Maddie as much of an apology as she owed him.
I think they should make a sequel movie to continue Maddie and Percy‘s story because I think Maddie and Percy should end up together they were a cute couple
And I think they should bring back Matthew Broderick as the dad and the person who played the mom as well as Jennifer Lawrence because she did a great job