32-year-old Maddie Barker is an Uber driver and bartender in Montauk, New York. As she owes property taxes on the home she inherited from her mother, her car is being repossessed, and she faces bankruptcy. Desperate to keep her home, Maddie responds to an unusual Craigslist posting. Wealthy couple Alison and Laird Becker seek someone to date their 19-year-old son Percy in exchange for a Buick Regal. As he is shy and has no experience with girls, drinking, parties, or sex, his parents hope to boost his confidence and "get him out of his shell" before he attends Princeton University.
Maddie attempts to seduce Percy at the animal shelter where he volunteers. When she offers him a ride home, he thinks she is attempting to kidnap him and maces her. Despite this, she agrees to a date. Maddie and Percy meet at a bar the next night and then go skinny dipping at the beach. While they are swimming, drunken teenagers steal their clothes. Naked, Maddie attacks them, frightening Percy, who refuses to have sex with her. When Maddie tries to leave with his clothes, Percy jumps on her car, naked, and they outrun the police. As they attempt to have sex at her home, he develops an anxiety rash, so Maddie instead takes care of him.
Maddie and Percy continue dating, sharing more about themselves and becoming friends. Maddie reveals her father was cheating on his wife and family in New York City with her mother, so she and Maddie were left on their own, although he paid her off with some cash and the house. Both reveal that they never went to prom, so they imitate a prom night, going to a fancy dinner where Percy plays a rendition of "Maneater" on the piano. Afterward, he meets a school acquaintance, Natalie, who invites him to a Princeton orientation party.
After Percy and Maddie disagree about their long-term plans, he goes to the party, where Maddie eventually searches for him. She finds him with Natalie in bed, although nothing happened between them after he took an ibuprofen with alcohol. After leaving the party, Percy professes his love for Maddie, and Maddie says they should not have sex for the first time when he is drunk.
The next day, Percy tells his parents he wants to stay in Montauk with Maddie instead of going to Princeton. In a panic, his father offers her the car if she convinces him to go to Princeton. Percy overhears Maddie's deal with his parents. Feeling betrayed, Percy invites his parents and Maddie to dinner simultaneously and makes surreptitious remarks about the deal. He excuses himself and crashes the Buick into a tree, badly damaging it. When Percy returns, he tries to have sex with Maddie. After prematurely ejaculating during foreplay, he reveals he knows about the deal and ends their relationship.
Maddie takes the damaged car and determines to pay off her debts. Working for the rest of the summer, she saves enough money to save her home and fix her car. Maddie's friends Jim and Sara tell her they are moving from Montauk to Florida due to housing costs. Sara asks Maddie if she really wants to stay in Montauk or if she is just doing it for her mother.
After reflecting on her life, Maddie reunites with Percy at a Princeton mixer and apologizes. Unconvinced, he starts to drive off when she jumps on the hood of his car. Unable to see, Percy crashes the car into a barbecue, igniting her hoodie. He drives into the ocean to save her. The pair reconcile, promising to remain friends. Maddie sells Jim and Sara the house at low price, deciding to leave Montauk. Maddie adopts Milo, a former police dog, from the shelter where Percy volunteered. She drops Percy off at Princeton and promises to call him during her entire drive to her new life in California.
In October 2021, it was announced that Sony Pictures had won a highly competitive R-rated comedy package backed by producer-star Jennifer Lawrence with her production company Excellent Cadaver and director Gene Stupnitsky over studios Apple, Netflix, and Universal Pictures for a theatrical-exclusive release. Lawrence, Alex Saks, Marc Provissiero, Naomi Odenkirk, and Justine Polsky serve as producers while Stupnitsky co-wrote the screenplay with John Phillips. Its plot came from a real Craigslist ad sent to Stupnitsky by producers Provissiero and Odenkirk, with the former telling Lawrence about
Reception
No Hard Feelings grossed $50.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $36.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $87.3 million. In the United States and Canada, No Hard Feelings was released alongside the wide expansion of Asteroid City, and was projected to gross around $12 million from 3,208 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $6.25 million on its first day, including $2.15 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to slightly over-perform and debut to $15 million, finishing fourth.
Cameron B: [filming himself on phone] Yo, yo, what's going on, you guys? It's your boy, Cameron B. We are kicking the summer off right at a sick house party in Montauk.
