Fantasy Life

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2:15

Fantasy Life

R

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1h 31m

Romance

Comedy

Drama

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83%

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36 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

An anxious law school dropout (Matthew Shear) stumbles into a job babysitting his psychiatrist's three granddaughters and falls for the girls' mother (Amanda Peet), an actress in a rocky marriage. A smart, New York-set romantic comedy co-starring Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaban, Andrea Martin, Zosia Mamet, and Holland Taylor. Winner of the SXSW Narrative Feature Audience Award.

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Peter Travers

The Travers Take

1d

3/4

Amanda Peet fans rejoice! This tale of broken connections returns this acting sorceress to films, after 10 years, playing an aging star out to restart her career and her love life. She’s funny and fierce in all the right places.

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Thelma Adams

AARP Movies for Grownups

1d

4/5

Sometimes a great cast overflowing with character actors can elevate an otherwise modest comedy. That’s true of this charmingly offbeat rom-com.

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Kyle Smith

Wall Street Journal

2d

As a love story, “Fantasy Life” isn’t particularly original, but the low-key way Mr. Shear realizes some familiar situations is warm and human, with comic aspects and sad ones kept in an appealing balance.

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Sankeerthna Vedamtam

MovieJawn

10h

Full of watch-worthy, bittersweet charm.

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Isabella Soares

Collider

1d

7/10

With less of an emphasis on romance and more on the platonic connection between two lonely individuals, Fantasy Life is a tender reminder that having a friend to rely on in times of need is all that's necessary to carry on.

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Al Alexander

Movies Thru the Spectrum

1d

C-

"Fantasy Life" isn’t a terrible film (it won the audience award at the 2025 SXSW fest), but it’s also not a very good one. It just sorta exists without purpose or meaning, rendering it less a fantasy and more a mind-numbing hallucination.

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P D

12h

Touching and relatable story told with humor. Excellent performances. Wonderful script. Beautifully shot.

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eli

3d

The kissing scenes and the story

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Joey J

@JoeyNyc301 14h

Its a modern take on an ole school story. Its the supporting cast that brings everything together. Shear is of star magnitude. Alessandro is a sex symbol. Worth the $20 theater ticket.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 1d

Funny in 1 hour and 31 minutes.

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Michael Y.

@michaelyonis Mar 20

Absolutely horrible movie. It was so dry and boring, that I almost fell asleep in the roughly 30 minutes I watched of the movie before walking out of the theater.

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Mike K

@mike65401 Mar 19

The only redeeming quality was Amanda Peet. I'll watch any movie if she is in it. I'm not really sure how the actors got talked into being in this movie. And it didn't have an ending.... it just stopped and the credits started rolling.

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Matthew Shear

Director

Amanda Peet

Dianne

Matthew Shear

Sam

Alessandro Nivola

David

Judd Hirsch

Fred

Bob Balaban

Lenny

Fantasy Life: Trailer 1

2:15

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Synopsis

An anxious law school dropout (Matthew Shear) stumbles into a job babysitting his psychiatrist's three granddaughters and falls for the girls' mother (Amanda Peet), an actress in a rocky marriage. A smart, New York-set romantic comedy co-starring Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaban, Andrea Martin, Zosia Mamet, and Holland Taylor. Winner of the SXSW Narrative Feature Audience Award.

Director: Matthew Shear
Producer: Charlie Alderman, Christopher Dodds, Amanda Peet, Phil Keefe, Emily McCann Lesser, David Bernon, Sam Slater
Screenwriter: Matthew Shear
Distributor: Greenwich Entertainment
Production Co: Prospect Avenue, Burn Later Productions, Made By Limbo, AC3 Media, Charlie's Production Company
Rating: R (Brief Drug Use|Some Sexual References|Language)
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 27, 2026, Limited
Runtime: 1h 31m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.66:1)

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