Permission is a 2018 comedy drama about a woman on the brink of a marriage proposal who is told by a friend that she should date other men before spending the rest of her life with her boyfriend.
The thirty-something romcom is an important cog in the wheel, a reliable, efficient piece of the machine that helps to define generations, the times they live in and much more. With Brian Crano‘s latest Permission, those times are strikingly similar to those that came before it, even as it deals with some interesting – if not already asked – questions, making this a familiar but ultimately touching experience.
Anna (Rebecca Hall) is turning thirty, celebrating her birthday with her long time boyfriend Will (Dan Stevens), the two together since high school. The two are not so much stuck in a rut, as they are, at least on the surface, quite happy, living together in a nice place with plans to buy a house. They are the best of friends and have a great sex life, if not routine. At dinner, with her brother Hale (David Joseph Craig) and his boyfriend, Reece (Morgan Spector), who is also Will’s carpentry partner, Reece suggests that Anna has no validity in saying that Will is the best since she’s literally been with no other man. The subject of an open relationship to test their love is put on the table, and while it’s initially awkward, Anna and Will soon warm to the idea and it’s not long before they meet other sexual partners. Can their love survive?
The signs are there that Anna and Will are a perfunctory couple, happy in their habits but certainly less than satisfied, an opening sex scene demonstrating that they are indeed respectful and grateful of each other but not feeling the spark. Crano, who wrote the screenplay, establishes this well and we get a genuine sense of an honest and comfortable relationship. This helps a lot going forward, especially as the film settles for some routines of its own, putting these characters through a number of obvious and familiar hurdles. Will almost immediately meets Lydia (Gina Gershon), an older divorcée who is attracted to his woodworking and Anna hooks up with Dane (Francois Arnaud), an attractive guy she decides is the one for her.
Meanwhile, we follow Hale as he befriends a man in the park named Glenn (Jason Sudeikis), who has children, triggering some longing in himself. In fact, the gay couple share a surprising amount of screen time with Anna and Will’s story, and it’s handled very well, sensitive and authentic, giving as much weight and urgency as the main thread. It’s refreshing and truly helps in separating Crano’s film from others in the genre.
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Naturally, the new sexual relationships stir awakenings in Anna and Will and while the premise is grounds for comedy mayhem, as seen in movies like this before, Permission veers more toward the serious. It’s always a little hard to swallow the concept, but thanks to some good work from Hall – who is just terrific – and Stevens, there’s a lot that has impact. They feel warm together and you feel straight away on their side, believing they are a couple with wild oats to sow but true love in their hearts.
Permission will seem like something you’ve seen before, and you might be tempted to skip it as a such, but there are rewards here for those who let it work like it intends. It has no easy answers and admittedly, searches for stable ground to land on, even by its own definition, something that would seem impossible.