The early scenes of the contemporary romance “Newness” make it seem like the movie is going to be a frank critique of dating in the iPhone age, when apps make it easier to find a mate — at least for the night —but also make it easier to ignore them once the sex is over. Director Drake Doremus and his frequent writer/producer partner Ben York Jones open “Newness” with a frenzied montage of swiping and screwing, facilitated by a dating app called Winx. Then the film’s two main characters, a pharmacist named Martin (Nicholas Hoult) and a physical therapist named Gabi (Laia Costa), find each other on Winx and spend a pleasant evening mostly just talking. Their long date sprawls into the next day, leading to another montage of Martin and Gabi falling in love and moving in together. Technology makes everybody happy…at least temporarily.
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By the time Doremus and Jones get past their initial gimmick of making a romantic drama informed by the social developments of the 21st century, they’re ready to move on to a premise that’s a little more timeless. Martin and Gabi enjoy the extended stretch of giddy passion that carries a lot of young couples along when they first get together, until they have a night when the vibe’s just not there — due to a combination of physical exhaustion and general boredom — and they worry that this is the beginning of the end. So on the same night, by sheer coincidence, they both cheat on each other. And after confessing the truth in a burst of tearful shame and jealous rage, they decide they need to start being totally honest with each other about their undiminished desire to pursue other people. Soon they’re in an old-school open relationship, sleeping with strangers on a regular basis — with the condition that they have to tell each other all the sexy details once they’re back under the same roof.
Hoult and Costa are terrific in “Newness.” The former has developed into a strong actor with a breathtakingly handsome face, which helps make it easier to take Doremus’s many long close-ups of Martin, even when the character is moody or mean. A playful and thoughtful guy who has a tendency to close himself off whenever a conversation turns too personal, Martin at times comes off as the perfect boyfriend, until Gabi starts asking about parts of his past — like his first wife, his sick mom, or his dead sister — that he’d rather not discuss.
As for Gabi, she’s a Spanish immigrant with an adventurous spirit, who sees nothing wrong with pursuing a committed relationship and seeking the fleeting pleasures of a one-night stand. She’s so bracingly honest and full of life that it’s easy to see why Martin would go along with any unusual scheme she proposes. So long as she saves her deepest affection — and even her most satisfying orgasms — for him, he claims to be fine with their arrangement.
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The big problem with “Newness” is that it’s easy to see where all of this is going. Eventually, the novelty of promiscuity outside of couplehood is going to wear off, and these two lovers are going to find themselves making choices that violate both the letter and the spirit of their pact. The predictability of this movie gets to be a drag at times, especially since the nearly two-hour running-time leads to a lot of repetition of the same conflicts.
But Doremus and Jones do cultivate a kind of frankness that’s rare for an American independent film. It’s not just that the characters talk openly about sex — or even that “Newness” is itself fairly erotic at times — but they also push each other to be upfront about what they really need, and how they’re not getting it from each other. The movie has a few flourishes of visual flair, beginning with those early montages and then carrying on throughout the picture. Mostly though, Doremus just holds on the faces of his two leads as they bicker and smooch and intimately caress each other.
The central theme of “Newness” — that to enjoy the fruits of a long-term relationship, the participants have to be willing to make sacrifices and to endure the tough times — isn’t as profound or even as novel as either the filmmakers or their millennial target audience may believe. But in a way, that works in the movie’s favor. Yes, the fundamental processes of sex and dating have been transformed by technology. But couples still have the same fights about fidelity and truthfulness that their parents and grandparents had, as well as some of the same revelations about why it may be worth it to push through them. At it’s best, “Newness” is about how nothing’s really all that new. [B]
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