Fantasy Life (2025) is actor Matthew Shear’s low-key, charming, New York-set directorial debut about two people with severe mental health issues trying to figure out how to go on in life. Shear plays Sam, an anxious former law student who stumbles upon babysitting three little girls, orchestrated by his therapist (Judd Hirsch), who happens to be their grandfather.
Buy Fantasy LifeComplications arise when Sam falls for the girls’ mother Diane (a career-best Amanda Peet), a has-been actress dealing with the fallout of not getting roles because of her age and her own psychotic breakdown. Adding further to the emotional chaos is her rocky marriage to a childish musician (Alessandro Nivolo), not to mention unnecessary feedback from her extended family (veteran acting icons Andrea Martin, Jessica Harper, and Bob Balaban). Sam and Diane find odd solace in each other while working out their anxieties, and they wonder if they can really withstand a newfound relationship, one that will obviously hit a permanent brick wall.
I appreciate Shear’s obvious admiration of the films of Woody Allen, but he has a long way to go to match Allen’s influential genius (as an iconic New York director of course). However, he is really good at allowing his character to be as awkward as he can possibly be. You really feel empathy towards him.
But the real revelatory performance belongs to Peet, who runs away with the film with her wonderfully honest portrayal of a woman (and actress) of a certain age who’s just trying to deal with everything and everyone around her. She really nails it, especially near the end as she’s revealing herself to her psychiatrist (Holland Taylor) about the damage of being a wealthy white woman, juggling the common trauma of a dried-up career, which feels meta considering that this is Peet’s return to film after not being in one since 2015. There’s a really standout scene where she’s mistaken for actress Lake Bell that feels unbearably real, and Peet is so unbelievably good in it.
Despite the film running short and a little slight in terms of story, it still manages to be wise, witty, and grounded with its portrait of messy people trying to be less so but not quite making it there. It’s also another solid dramedy where New York feels like a character itself too. I found it enjoyable enough.
The DVD includes trailers for the film itself, as well as those for Come Closer, Dreams, Islands, and Love, Brooklyn.
