There is probably no filmmaker more naturally suited to turn a ridiculous sex-pass premise into a frantic studio comedy than David Wain, whose best work (“They Came Together,” “Wanderlust”) has always understood that adult humiliation, romantic panic, and total comic overcommitment tend to live in the same zip code. Now, Wain is back with “Gail Daughtry And The Celebrity Sex Pass,” an R-rated Hollywood chase comedy that premiered at Sundance earlier this year and is now headed to theaters this July through Sony Pictures Classics.
The film stars Zoey Deutch as Gail, a small-town hairdresser engaged to her devoted high-school sweetheart, Tom, until a celebrity hall-pass arrangement stops being theoretical and blows up her life. After Tom cashes in his own pass, Gail heads to Los Angeles with her friend Otto and gets talked into evening the scales with a celebrity of her own: Jon Hamm. From there, the movie spins into a bigger and weirder Tinseltown odyssey involving a talent agency assistant, a paparazzo, John Slattery, assorted celebrity collisions, and, because this is clearly not interested in behaving itself, a group of Italian assassins.
That setup alone already sounds like vintage Wain—part romantic meltdown, part showbiz spoof, part anything-goes live-action cartoon. Wain directed the film and co-wrote it with longtime collaborator Ken Marino. The supporting cast is stacked with the kind of comic ringers who can sell even the most deranged detour, including Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Ben Wang, Joe Lo Truglio, Sabrina Impacciatore, Thomas Lennon, and Kerri Kenney-Silver. Hamm and Slattery reuniting in a knowingly ridiculous comedy only sweetens the pitch.
The film had its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival before landing at Tribeca for its New York premiere, and Sony Pictures Classics later picked it up for release. Whether this turns out to be one of Wain’s sharper studio send-ups or just a gloriously stupid summer detour, it at least has the right instincts: keep it fast, keep it silly, and let Deutch sprint through Hollywood chaos in pursuit of Jon Hamm. “Gail Daughtry And The Celebrity Sex Pass” opens in theaters on July 10. Watch the trailer below.
