Permission | Rotten Tomatoes

Permission

Released Feb 9, 2018

1 hr. 36 min.

Romance

Comedy

TRAILER

for Permission: Trailer 1

List

67%

45 Reviews

Tomatometer

34%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Anna and Will were each other's first: first kiss, first love and first and only relationship. Now, 10 years in, as Will is about to propose, the couple's best friend makes a drunken toast, suggesting that they should sleep around before their inevitable marriage. The joke lands like a lead balloon, but the thought lingers until Anna proposes that they try opening their relationship as a sexual experiment. Together, they venture out of the purely monogamous boundaries of their relationship.

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Premiered Aug 23

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Critics Consensus

Permission holds together in spite of its uneven narrative thanks to eminently watchable work from leads Rebecca Hall and Dan Stevens.

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Audience Member

Do we need permission to explore outside our own happiness to be truly happy? Director Brian Crano tells a very grown up story about the complexities of modern relationships and sexuality Starring Rebecca Hall, Dan Stephens, Morgan Spector, and Gina Gershon The focus here is Anna and Will They were each other's first: first kiss, first love and first and only relationship 10 years in, as Will is about to propose, the couple's best friend makes a drunken toast, suggesting that they should sleep around before their inevitable marriage The joke lands like a lead balloon, but the thought lingers until Anna proposes that they try opening their relationship as a sexual experiment Together, they venture out of the purely monogamous boundaries of their relationship Can it still be saved or has it gone too far? Is monogamy stupid?, you shouldn't want someone because you have to, is being the perfect couple enough or just plain boring without experiencing anyting new? Anna is trying to figure out what she wants while Will is losing his grip on what he wants to feel The film takes a while for things to get moving Pretty much everything was already established in the first hour If they had just cut out the second couple and their relationship issues the movie would've flowed better The ending feels really out of nowhere feeling pretty unsatisfying Hall and Stephens make the story work even if it's all too familiar and the narrative is uneven with a romance that's bumbling but also starts to decline A big debate about the importance of monogamy and the consequences resulting not practicing it

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/10/24

Full Review

John K

Raised his hope and crushed him on the same night. One of the most cruel movies ever. Especially when you mix in the fact that she played him like a fool.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/22/23

Full Review

fabio v

i find it quite interesting that the movie never allows itself to consider the possibility that its premise is utterly dumb. Eventually realizing that their love was based on their mutual and exclusive naivety that kindly let the world of experience outside, there should have been a comic note at the end: and when isn't exaclty like it? in other words, the problem is not so much with the movie that we have that decides to follow dumb characters around, but with the movie that with should have had that has the characters reacting to the seminal idea that taint their relationship with: duh!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Do we need permission to explore outside our own happiness to be truly happy? Director Brian Crano tells a very grown up story about the complexities of modern relationships and sexuality Starring Rebecca Hall, Dan Stephens, Morgan Spector, and Gina Gershon The focus here is Anna and Will They were each other's first: first kiss, first love and first and only relationship 10 years in, as Will is about to propose, the couple's best friend makes a drunken toast, suggesting that they should sleep around before their inevitable marriage The joke lands like a lead balloon, but the thought lingers until Anna proposes that they try opening their relationship as a sexual experiment Together, they venture out of the purely monogamous boundaries of their relationship Can it still be saved or has it gone too far? Is monogamy stupid?, you shouldn't want someone because you have to, is being the perfect couple enough or just plain boring without experiencing anything new? Anna is trying to figure out what she wants while Will is losing his grip on what he wants to feel The film takes a while for things to get moving Pretty much everything was already established in the first hour If they had just cut out the second couple and their relationship issues the movie would've flowed better The ending feels really out of nowhere feeling pretty unsatisfying Hall and Stephens make the story work even if it's all too familiar and the narrative is uneven with a romance that's bumbling but also starts to decline A big debate about the importance of monogamy and the consequences resulting not practicing it

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I’m gonna come out and say my dislike for this movie truely stems from me just thinking about how not cool I’d be about doing this . So it’s tough to give a true unbiased rating 2.0. I even felt uncomfortable watching some of the seens idk . I’m anti cuck life for sure . I respect the acting from Rebecca hall but I really really disliked her character soooooooo much

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/09/20

Full Review

Audience Member

A movie, whose story could seem meaningless, specious. And yet in the end it is all so clear, well represented by characters. It's not just that Will is ok with the fact that she slept with someone else. The thing is that he's simply ok, with wathever he is and whatever he has got. Without questioning. Will is one that it's fine, as long as he has got her- of course. Anna, on the contrary, is the openness outside of the curiosity, it is the jump beyond the fear. No one is guilty, I would not assert what the movie seems to suggest all the time: Will is not as interesting or as beautiful or as good in bed or unpredictable in the daily life as Dane. I would just say that Will is simply what he is, and in the end he turns out to have nothing wrong. He's simply not the one, despite the years and the beautiful house.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

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Brian Crano

Director

Rebecca Hall

Anna

Dan Stevens

Will

Gina Gershon

Lydia

François Arnaud

Dane

Morgan Spector

Reece

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Richard Whittaker

Austin Chronicle

Nearly every minute the camera is focused on her, [Rebecca] Hall wears a vague, faraway look of uncertainty, as though she is contemplating the past, present, and future all at once.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 15, 2018

Full Review

Amy Nicholson

Variety

A small story made with big performances from leads Stevens and Hall, and while it hasn't gotten the promotional push for audiences to pay attention, people lucky enough to stumble across it will fall for everyone involved.

Feb 9, 2018

Full Review

Kristy Puchko

Pajiba

(Director Brian Crano) gives Permission a tremulous tone that's in turns sexy, tender, and heart-trembling.

Feb 9, 2018

Full Review

Richard Crouse

Richard Crouse

Although uneven it is an interesting look at the responsibilities that come with adult relationships.

Rated: 2.5/5

Mar 4, 2021

Full Review

Negar Esfandiary

The Arts Desk

Permission is a masterly portrayal of a reality affecting women in too many countries.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 21, 2019

Full Review

Rosalynn Try-Hane

Liquid Marmalade

A must watch.

Nov 21, 2019

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Anna and Will were each other's first: first kiss, first love and first and only relationship. Now, 10 years in, as Will is about to propose, the couple's best friend makes a drunken toast, suggesting that they should sleep around before their inevitable marriage. The joke lands like a lead balloon, but the thought lingers until Anna proposes that they try opening their relationship as a sexual experiment. Together, they venture out of the purely monogamous boundaries of their relationship.

Director: Brian Crano
Executive Producer: Brian Crano, Erika Hampson
Screenwriter: Brian Crano
Distributor: Good Deed Entertainment
Production Co: Good Deed Entertainment
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 9, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 9, 2018
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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