Fantasy Life

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2:15

Fantasy Life

R

Mar 2026

1h 31m

Romance

Comedy

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

81%

Tomatometer

70 Reviews

66%

Popcornmeter

100+ 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.

Critics Consensus

A sensitive romantic dramedy enriched with emotional maturity and a terrific turn from Amanda Peet, Fantasy Life is refreshingly grounded in plausible reality.

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Christy Lemire

FilmWeek (LAist)

May 7

It's very warm and wry; a very intelligent New York rom-com.

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Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

Apr 3

A modest yet amusingly spiky round trip from Manhattan to Martha’s Vineyard, it has the trappings of a rom-com but a trickier soulfulness about its unlikely connection.

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Matt Zoller Seitz

RogerEbert.com

Mar 30

3/4

The top-to-bottom cast of proudly eccentric actors ... ensures that every scene has moments of truth, and the filmmaker’s empathy pushes the movie over the finish line.

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Laura Hiros

Rincón de cine

May 8

2.5/5

Fantasy Life is an interesting story for a very specific viewer. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Beandrea July

FilmWeek (LAist)

May 7

I really enjoyed this! The thematic star of this movie is really mental health.

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Robert W. Butler

Butler's Cinema Scene

May 6

B

Also remarkable is Shear’s ability to balance the film’s moments of poignancy and wry humor. It’s the sort of thing that takes some directors an entire career to nail. He gets it right out of the gate.

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ag

May 11

boring- too long- characters not likeable

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Andrew E

Apr 13

Wonderful film with a great cast.

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terrypofsf

Apr 13

Very simple plot--slow moving, satisfying.

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Connor C

Apr 12

Quiet, but thoughtful & occasionally pretty funny & moving.

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Colleen F

Apr 8

Heartwarming. Ended strangely.

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Brian B

Apr 8

This movie was an exercise in pointlessness. My wife and I wife still cant figure out what it was about. It wouldve been a good movie of the week in 1980. Fortunately, we only paid four bucks as a friend gave us a Fandango gift card. Thank you, Fandango! The acting was good, but there was no plot.

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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
Release Date (Streaming): May 8, 2026
Runtime: 1h 31m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.66:1)