Fantasy Life is a 2025 American comedy film, written and directed by Matthew Shear, in his directorial debut. It stars Amanda Peet, Shear, Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaban, Andrea Martin, Zosia Mamet, Jessica Harper, Holland Taylor and Sheng Wang.
It had its world premiere at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on March 8, 2025. It was released in the United States on March 27, 2026.
Premise After being laid off, a paralegal begins babysitting his psychiatrist's granddaughters, and falls for their mother.
Cast Amanda Peet as Dianne Matthew Shear as Sam Alessandro Nivola as David Judd Hirsch as Fred Bob Balaban as Lenny Andrea Martin as Helen Zosia Mamet as Jenny Jessica Harper as Toby Holland Taylor as Dr. Greene Sheng Wang as Alan Sophie von Haselberg as Becky
Release It had its world premiere at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on March 8, 2025. In May 2025, Greenwich Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released in the United States on March 27, 2026.
Reception Critical response Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
In 2025, the jury at South by Southwest awarded Peet the Narrative Feature Competition Special Jury Award for Performance.Olsen, Mark (2 April 2026). A rom-com veteran and a newbie director, Amanda Peet and Matthew Shear found ‘Fantasy Life’ together Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 16 April 2026.
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