A mundane exploration of an equally mundane scenario that is as unambitious as its characters. The movie hopes to be a commentary on hookup culture, but gives up about halfway into the plot.

Megan and Alec meet each other on a dating website and decide to engage in casual sex for the night. The next morning, New York faces a massive storm causing everything to be snowed in. Megan gets stuck at Alec’s place and they’re forced to spend an entire day with each other, against their wishes. They bond over a bunch of other activities like eating food, watching TV, playing games. Slowly becoming comfortable with each other, they also begin the quality of their last sexual experience. When some particularly critical things are said about each other, both of them start to question their competence. Realizing the importance of communicating ones thoughts they decide to have sex again, to see if they can do better. Having an explicit line of communication allows them to incorporate a closed feedback loop in their congress. After this, they have a slight misunderstanding which makes them realize that they’ve fallen in love with each other. The movie ends with both of them having overcome their loneliness and found someone to their tastes.

I guess the fundamental point of the movie is the importance of clear and unambiguous communication. The movie tries to drive this point home, by portraying how their emotions get in the way of effective communication. On more than one occasion, we see them fight or have misunderstandings because they’re unable to control their emotions. But over time a steady sense of comfort develops between the two characters, which leads to easier communication.

The twist towards the end where Megan finds out that Alec is actually engaged to another woman is unexpected. There are no hints in the plot before this point, to let the audience have a chance at predicting this piece of information. Its nature is also cliched and it seems to be added just for the cheap tension. It does however serve the plot’s purpose and allows the writers to end on a grand (albeit stupid) gesture.

Megan’s note and breaking into Alec’s neighbors are important plot points later on in the film, so the film is good at tying all loose ends. During Megan’s absence, her roommate Faiza also discovers the comfort of living-in with her boyfriend. It might be a stretch, but this is also a reference to the idea of communicating better to improve each other’s lives.

Except for the initial slightly amusing awkwardness of being stuck with someone you just hooked-up with, this movies doesn’t have much going for it. Thus a perfectly mediocre romantic comedy.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (Bad)