Love Life (American TV series)
Love Life is an American romantic comedy anthology web television series created by Sam Boyd that premiered on the HBO Max streaming service for its launch on May 27, 2020.[1] In June 2020, the series was renewed for a second season.[2]
| Love Life | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | |
| Created by | Sam Boyd |
| Starring |
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| Narrated by | Lesley Manville |
| Music by |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Denise Pinckley |
| Cinematography | Adrian Peng Correia |
| Editor(s) |
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| Running time | 28–37 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
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| Distributor | WarnerMedia Entertainment |
| Release | |
| Original network | HBO Max |
| Original release | May 27, 2020 – present |
Premise
An anthology series that follows a different person each season from their first romance until their last romance.[3]
Cast
Main
- Anna Kendrick as Darby Carter
- Zoë Chao as Sara Yang, Darby's roommate and best friend
- Sasha Compère as Mallory Moore, Darby's other roommate and friend
- Peter Vack as Jim, Sara's boyfriend and later ex-boyfriend
The series is narrated by Lesley Manville.
Recurring
- Jin Ha as Augie Jeong
- Hope Davis as Claudia Hoffman, Darby’s Mother
Guest
- Scoot McNairy as Bradley Field
- Maureen Sebastian as Kate Field
- Nadia Quinn as Lola
- Gus Halper as Danny Two-Phones
- Nick Thune as Magnus Lund
- James LeGros as Larry Carter
- Jackson Demott Hill as Hunter Carter
- Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Darby's therapist
- Courtney Grosbeck as teenager Darby Carter
- John Gallagher Jr. as Luke Ducharme
- Griffin Gluck portrays teenager Luke Ducharme
- Kingsley Ben-Adir as Grant
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Augie Jeong" | Sam Boyd | Sam Boyd | May 27, 2020 | |
| While at a karaoke night in 2012, Darby meets Augie Jeong, who immediately begins flirting with her. The two spend the night together, and she gives him her number before he leaves the next morning. After several agonizing days in which Darby talks to her roommates about whether or not to text him first, he finally texts her. The two start a relationship. After several months, Augie announces he'll be leaving town to report on the Obama re-election campaign. On his last night in town, they attend Darby's boss's wedding, where the two say "I Love You" for the first time. They discuss staying in touch via Skype, but it seems unlikely their relationship will continue. He leaves the next morning. The final seconds of the episode flash forward to Darby walking down the street, pregnant, with a bare ring finger. | |||||
| 2 | "Bradley Field" | Craig Johnson | Bridget Bedard | May 27, 2020 | |
| One year later, Darby starts a relationship with her former boss, Bradley, who's recently divorced. He's older and successful, leaving her insecure. She attempts to rekindle her interest in photography by taking a class, but she receives only criticism and drops out. The difference in age and maturity between Darby and Bradley comes to a head when she gets drunk at his father's wake and embarrasses them both. Following their breakup, she purchases a photo from a former classmate, her apparent first stab at collecting art. | |||||
| 3 | "Danny Two Phones" | Tricia Brock | Ali Liebegott | May 27, 2020 | |
| Another year passes, and Darby runs into Augie, who's quit his job and is preparing to travel the country in a van with his new girlfriend. Darby's roommate Sara drags her to a party to make her stop thinking about Augie. But Sara feels guilty she skipped her boyfriend's cousin's briss to go to the party, and after kissing another guy in a game of spin the bottle, she leaves for the briss, where her boyfriend Jim's relative tells her to let Jim go if he's not the one. Meanwhile Darby ends up sleeping with a guy, Danny, from the party, but she's turned off by his intensity and lies that she's moving to Cleveland. Later, she runs into him while she's working at the Whitney, and Danny says she hurt him. Darby apologizes, realizing she's made him feel the way guys have made her feel. Again she runs into Augie, who's arguing with his girlfriend about the road trip they're embarking on the next day. Darby leaves for a job interview at an auction house. As Augie's girlfriend loads the van, Augie scrolls through Darby's social media. | |||||
| 4 | "Magnus Lund" | Craig Johnson | Brig Muñoz-Liebowitz | June 4, 2020 | |
| After a series of casual relationships, Darby begins dating Magnus Lund, a chef. He seems perfect: fun, successful, affectionate, and great with Darby's mom. After a vacation to the country, he moves in with Darby. But on the same day Darby gets a promotion at the auction house, Magnus is fired, sending him into a depression. He watches sports and drinks a lot, and Darby begins to resent that she's supporting them both. After a fight, Magnus seems motivated to look for a job, but he leaves the house one morning and doesn't return for 24 hours. Darby, scared and worried, goes through his stuff and finds a birthday card from another woman, past-due bills, and credit card debt. Her friends describe Magnus as shady and a flirt. When he finally comes home, still wearing his job-hunting suit, he reveals he's gotten her name tattooed on his chest, and he asks her to marry him. Meanwhile, Sara begins to worry she's outgrown Jim like a youthful tattoo. | |||||
| 5 | "Luke Ducharme" | Stephanie Laing | Sam Boyd | June 4, 2020 | |
| Darby tries out therapy to discuss her relationship with Magnus and realizes her fear of rejection has made her a people-pleaser. After the therapist asks her to recount the first time she felt rejection, Darby describes her first relationship as a teenager, during one year she spent at boarding school. While stuck there over Thanksgiving break, feeling unwanted by both her parents, she has an intense fling with fellow student Luke Ducharme. However, after break ends, Luke ignores her and hooks up with her roommate. When Darby's roommate finds her crying, Darby lies and says she has cancer. The news spreads throughout the school, Luke takes her back, and Darby is showered with affection and support. When she's caught in her lie, though, she's humiliated and leaves school to return home. In the present day, Darby's therapist asks her to come back again, but she's too scared to. At the end, Magnus and Darby are grocery shopping. Darby wears an engagement ring. | |||||
| 6 | "Magnus Lund Part II" | Jennifer Kaytin Robinson | Jack Moore and Brig Muñoz-Liebowitz | June 4, 2020 | |
| An unemployed Magnus frustrates Darby by still going after a wrongful termination lawsuit by his previous employer but doesn't have much luck. Darby connects with Luke on Facebook and they meet up when he is in New York. They kiss during a night time stroll, but Darby stops it and tells him that she's just frustrated at her husband. Luke, who is now a lawyer, offers to help with Magnus's lawsuit, but Magnus behaves rudely when Luke tells him his case doesn't have much weight. An angry Darby sleeps with Luke, which shows her the possibility of a life without Magnus. Darby tells Magnus she wants to leave him, and he's pissed off. Meanwhile, Sara and Jim realize they want different things when he announces he's moving to New Jersey and she refuses to go with him. | |||||
| 7 | "Claudia Hoffman" | Anu Valia | Megan Mercier | June 11, 2020 | |
| Seven months after getting divorced from Magnus, Darby has quit her job at the auction house and working with Bradley's friend Lola at a gallery. Darby needs to have her appendix out and her mother Claudia comes to take care of her after the surgery and takes over. Darby is so annoyed with her overbearing mother who just seems to criticize everything she does that it escalates into a fight. Darby tries to smooth things over but then Hunter calls and Claudia's focus is shifted to her son. Darby starts crying in a shop when she sees how easily Claudia bonds with Hunter. This results in a serious talk between mother and daughter and helps them see the other person's point of view about their relationship. Meanwhile, Jim still refuses to take Sarah's calls so Sara crashes Nicolette's birthday party to 'accidentally' run into Jim. He tells her they're on different paths and he doesn't want to get back together and doesn't even want to be friends. | |||||
| 8 | "Sara Yang" | Stephanie Laing | Ali Liebegott | June 11, 2020 | |
| Darby's friend and old roommate Mallory is getting married and the girls head to a cabin for the bachelorette weekend. Darby catches Sara and Ramona do lines of coke in the bedroom. At dinner, Sara gives an emotional toast. Later, when everyone is asleep, Sara sneaks out and goes for a drive drunk. Darby finds her sleeping in the car in the morning and tells her off. In the evening, the girls head to a strip club for Mal & Taryn's hen night. Sara gets drunk and sneaks off to the bathroom and do more coke and finds a bag with money in one of the stalls. She returns the bag but later the owner accuses Sara of stealing the money. Sara tells Darby she stole the money for fun, she feels betrayed by Jim for choosing the house over her, she lost her job and feels like Darby doesn't need her anymore. Darby encourages Sara to get professional help and go to rehab. The next morning, Sara acts like she doesn't remember the talk she had with Darby. Darby gives Sara an ultimatum - rehab or she's done being friends. Sara hides under the covers and Darby leaves the cabin. | |||||
| 9 | "Augie Again" | Stephanie Laing | Franklin Hardy | June 11, 2020 | |
| It's Thanksgiving, 2 months after the bachelorette party. Darby attends a "Friendsgiving" party at Jim's house who tells her that he heard Sara was in rehab. At the party, she runs into Augie. On the way home from dinner, Augie and Darby spend the night together and get back together. Darby takes Augie to a work party at the gallery and he makes some comments which make Darby feel uncomfortable and she's beginning to question whether they really are a good fit and whether being 'comfortable' with each other was enough. Darby asks Jim for advice who tells her that if you're not bringing out the best in each other, it's okay to leave. During their breakfast meeting, Darby notes a weird smell and Jim suspects she may be pregnant, which she confirms by taking a number of pregnancy tests. She catches up with Augie and tells him that are too different now and that things aren't really working out the way they wanted them to. Augie says he's glad she broached the subject and he's happy she's breaking up with him so they can both be and do what they want to do. | |||||
| 10 | "The Person" | Sam Boyd | Bridget Bedard & Sam Boyd | June 11, 2020 | |
| Two years after the pregnancy test, Darby has tracked down an artist for her new exhibition. She is co-parenting baby Theo with Augie. Darby spends her first night apart from baby Theo to go to the wedding of her friend Sara, who is now sober and her mom Claudia comes to baby sit. At the reception, she meets Grant and the spend the entire night together talking. Darby invites him to her room where they kiss but she falls asleep when Grant goes to the store to get some drinks. She runs into Grant a few weeks later and they hit it off. A little while later Darby and Grant (who the narrator announces is Darby's soulmate) are still dating and she is finally content with her life. | |||||
Production
Development
On May 23, 2019, it was announced that WarnerMedia had ordered a romantic comedy anthology straight to series with the first season consisting of ten episodes for HBO Max. The series was created by Sam Boyd who was also expected to executive produce alongside Anna Kendrick, Paul Feig, Jessie Henderson, and Bridget Bedard. The pilot was also written and direct by Sam Boyd. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Lionsgate Television and Feigco Entertainment.[3][4] On June 11, 2020, HBO Max renewed the series for a second season.[2]
Casting
Alongside the initial series announcement, Anna Kendrick was also cast in a lead role.[3] On August 13, 2019, it was reported that Zoë Chao, Sasha Compère and Peter Vack joined the cast in starring roles, with Scoot McNairy joining in a recurring role.[4]
Filming
Filming had begun by August 2019 in Queens, New York.[5] They filmed the final scene of the finale on Thursday, March 12, 2020, and production was forced to shut down the next day because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While several more days of filming pick-ups had been planned, they were able to complete the season without those additional shots.[6]
Release
The series premiered on May 27, 2020 on HBO Max.[1] In Australia, the series was released on May 27, 2020, on Stan.[7]
Reception
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 62% based on 45 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Love Life first season breezes by on Anna Kendrick's charms, but those looking for a real connection may find its featherweight familiarness frustrating."[8] Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 54 out of 100 based on 19 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[9]
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References
- Petski, Denise (April 21, 2020). "HBO Max Unveils New Series Trailers: 'Love Life' Starring Anna Kendrick; 'On The Record', 'Legendary' & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
- Petski, Denise (June 11, 2020). "'Love Life' Renewed For Season 2 By HBO Max". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
- Petski, Denise (May 23, 2019). "Anna Kendrick To Headline 'Love Life' Anthology Series For WarnerMedia Streaming Service From Paul Feig & Lionsgate TV". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
- Porter, Rick (August 13, 2019). "HBO Max's Anna Kendrick Rom-Com 'Love Life' Adds 4 to Cast". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
- Steves, Ashley (August 29, 2019). "NYC What's Filming: HBO Max's Anthology Series 'Love Life,' Starring Anna Kendrick". Backstage. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
- Moye, Clarence (July 6, 2020). "Sam Boyd On Creating 'Love Life' for HBO Max". Awards Daily. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- Ma, Wenlei (April 28, 2020). "Anna Kendrick's HBO Max show Love Life is going to Stan in Australia". News.com.au. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- "Love Life: Season 1 (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- "Love Life: Season 1 reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
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