Permission | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

67% Tomatometer 45 Reviews 33% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings

Anna and Will were each other's first: first kiss, first love and first and only relationship. Now, 10 years in, as Will is about to propose, the couple's best friend makes a drunken toast, suggesting that they should sleep around before their inevitable marriage. The joke lands like a lead balloon, but the thought lingers until Anna proposes that they try opening their relationship as a sexual experiment. Together, they venture out of the purely monogamous boundaries of their relationship.

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Permission

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Critics Consensus

Permission holds together in spite of its uneven narrative thanks to eminently watchable work from leads Rebecca Hall and Dan Stevens.

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Critics Reviews

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Permission | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Richard Whittaker Austin Chronicle Nearly every minute the camera is focused on her, [Rebecca] Hall wears a vague, faraway look of uncertainty, as though she is contemplating the past, present, and future all at once. Rated: 3/5 Feb 15, 2018 Full Review Permission | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Amy Nicholson Variety A small story made with big performances from leads Stevens and Hall, and while it hasn't gotten the promotional push for audiences to pay attention, people lucky enough to stumble across it will fall for everyone involved. Feb 9, 2018 Full Review Permission | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Kristy Puchko Pajiba (Director Brian Crano) gives Permission a tremulous tone that's in turns sexy, tender, and heart-trembling. Feb 9, 2018 Full Review Permission | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Richard Crouse Richard Crouse Although uneven it is an interesting look at the responsibilities that come with adult relationships. Rated: 2.5/5 Mar 4, 2021 Full Review Permission | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Negar Esfandiary The Arts Desk Permission is a masterly portrayal of a reality affecting women in too many countries. Rated: 4/5 Nov 21, 2019 Full Review Permission | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Rosalynn Try-Hane Liquid Marmalade A must watch. Nov 21, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member The guy in the movie was hot and a good actor.But this movie didn't do anything for me.Movies like this always like to paint non monogamy as some horrible,selfish desire that always ends in tragedy and some childish dumb excuse to spice up a relationship. When really most non monogamous arent any of those things.And the haters writing reviews saying non monogamy is all those things.They just eat it up they want the negativity they want something to hate.Much like that random homophobe who doesn't like seeing two guys have sex but will watch any other movie with sex . Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/13/24 Full Review Audience Member Do we need permission to explore outside our own happiness to be truly happy? Director Brian Crano tells a very grown up story about the complexities of modern relationships and sexuality Starring Rebecca Hall, Dan Stephens, Morgan Spector, and Gina Gershon The focus here is Anna and Will They were each other's first: first kiss, first love and first and only relationship 10 years in, as Will is about to propose, the couple's best friend makes a drunken toast, suggesting that they should sleep around before their inevitable marriage The joke lands like a lead balloon, but the thought lingers until Anna proposes that they try opening their relationship as a sexual experiment Together, they venture out of the purely monogamous boundaries of their relationship Can it still be saved or has it gone too far? Is monogamy stupid?, you shouldn't want someone because you have to, is being the perfect couple enough or just plain boring without experiencing anyting new? Anna is trying to figure out what she wants while Will is losing his grip on what he wants to feel The film takes a while for things to get moving Pretty much everything was already established in the first hour If they had just cut out the second couple and their relationship issues the movie would've flowed better The ending feels really out of nowhere feeling pretty unsatisfying Hall and Stephens make the story work even if it's all too familiar and the narrative is uneven with a romance that's bumbling but also starts to decline A big debate about the importance of monogamy and the consequences resulting not practicing it Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/10/24 Full Review John K Raised his hope and crushed him on the same night. One of the most cruel movies ever. Especially when you mix in the fact that she played him like a fool. Rated 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 04/22/23 Full Review fabio v i find it quite interesting that the movie never allows itself to consider the possibility that its premise is utterly dumb. Eventually realizing that their love was based on their mutual and exclusive naivety that kindly let the world of experience outside, there should have been a comic note at the end: and when isn't exaclty like it?in other words, the problem is not so much with the movie that we have that decides to follow dumb characters around, but with the movie that with should have had that has the characters reacting to the seminal idea that taint their relationship with: duh! Rated 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Do we need permission to explore outside our own happiness to be truly happy? Director Brian Crano tells a very grown up story about the complexities of modern relationships and sexuality Starring Rebecca Hall, Dan Stephens, Morgan Spector, and Gina Gershon The focus here is Anna and Will They were each other's first: first kiss, first love and first and only relationship 10 years in, as Will is about to propose, the couple's best friend makes a drunken toast, suggesting that they should sleep around before their inevitable marriage The joke lands like a lead balloon, but the thought lingers until Anna proposes that they try opening their relationship as a sexual experiment Together, they venture out of the purely monogamous boundaries of their relationship Can it still be saved or has it gone too far? Is monogamy stupid?, you shouldn't want someone because you have to, is being the perfect couple enough or just plain boring without experiencing anything new? Anna is trying to figure out what she wants while Will is losing his grip on what he wants to feel The film takes a while for things to get moving Pretty much everything was already established in the first hour If they had just cut out the second couple and their relationship issues the movie would've flowed better The ending feels really out of nowhere feeling pretty unsatisfying Hall and Stephens make the story work even if it's all too familiar and the narrative is uneven with a romance that's bumbling but also starts to decline A big debate about the importance of monogamy and the consequences resulting not practicing it Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member I’m gonna come out and say my dislike for this movie truely stems from me just thinking about how not cool I’d be about doing this . So it’s tough to give a true unbiased rating 2.0. I even felt uncomfortable watching some of the seens idk . I’m anti cuck life for sure . I respect the acting from Rebecca hall but I really really disliked her character soooooooo much Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/09/20 Full Review Read all reviews

Permission

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Cast & Crew

Brian Crano Director Rebecca Hall Anna Dan Stevens Will Gina Gershon Lydia François Arnaud Dane Morgan Spector Reece
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Synopsis Anna and Will were each other's first: first kiss, first love and first and only relationship. Now, 10 years in, as Will is about to propose, the couple's best friend makes a drunken toast, suggesting that they should sleep around before their inevitable marriage. The joke lands like a lead balloon, but the thought lingers until Anna proposes that they try opening their relationship as a sexual experiment. Together, they venture out of the purely monogamous boundaries of their relationship.

Director
Brian Crano

Producer
Rebecca Hall, Margot Hand, Giri Tharan, Joshua Thurston

Screenwriter
Brian Crano

Distributor
Good Deed Entertainment

Production Co
Good Deed Entertainment

Genre
Romance, Comedy

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 9, 2018, Limited

Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 9, 2018

Runtime
1h 36m

Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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Permission | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

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