Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Fantasy Life

Play trailer Fantasy Life 2025 1h 31m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 9 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
After losing his job as a paralegal, Sam Stein (Matthew Shear) suffers a panic attack and stumbles into a job babysitting his psychiatrist's three granddaughters. The girls' mother, Dianne (Amanda Peet), is an actor whose once-promising career has stalled; she's in a difficult marriage to David (Alessandro Nivola), a rock bassist. When David goes abroad on tour, Dianne and Sam discover an easy rapport as well as a shared history of mental illness. Sam joins Dianne's family to babysit for the summer on Martha's Vineyard, and he ends up in a house with the woman he pines for, her husband, the three kids, and all four grandparents, including his psychiatrist (Judd Hirsch).

Critics Reviews

View More
Brian Tallerico RogerEbert.com Mar 14
A comedy that doesn’t just give Amanda Peet a comeback role but might feature her best screen work to date. Go to Full Review Angie Han The Hollywood Reporter Mar 12
With Amanda Peet in a remarkable star turn, it marks a promising debut for writer-director Matthew Shear. Go to Full Review Stephen Saito Variety Mar 12
It isn’t hyperbole to say that Amanda Peet gives the performance of a lifetime in “Fantasy Life.” Go to Full Review Stephen Silver Broad Street Review Nov 21
Shear’s protagonist is, by far, the least interesting character in the movie. I was much more interested in the arc of Peet’s character Go to Full Review Ryan McQuade AwardsWatch Apr 14
B
Peet’s Dianne, a middle aged actress wanting to recapture the magic of her career from just a few years ago, is easily the best work of her career... Go to Full Review Abe Friedtanzer Awards Buzz Mar 16
8/10
It’s great to see Shear pulling triple duty in his directorial debut. His screenplay is full of funny moments that take full advantage of the talented cast, and he finds a perfect role for himself as Sam. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
Fantasy Life

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

Matthew Shear

Director

Amanda Peet

Actor

Matthew Shear

Actor

Alessandro Nivola

Actor

Judd Hirsch

Actor

Bob Balaban

Actor
View All

Fantasy Life

View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis After losing his job as a paralegal, Sam Stein (Matthew Shear) suffers a panic attack and stumbles into a job babysitting his psychiatrist's three granddaughters. The girls' mother, Dianne (Amanda Peet), is an actor whose once-promising career has stalled; she's in a difficult marriage to David (Alessandro Nivola), a rock bassist. When David goes abroad on tour, Dianne and Sam discover an easy rapport as well as a shared history of mental illness. Sam joins Dianne's family to babysit for the summer on Martha's Vineyard, and he ends up in a house with the woman he pines for, her husband, the three kids, and all four grandparents, including his psychiatrist (Judd Hirsch).
Director
Matthew Shear
Producer
Charlie Alderman, Christopher Dodds, Phil Keefe, Amanda Peet, Emily McCann Lesser, David Bernon, Sam Slater
Screenwriter
Matthew Shear
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 31m