The Hater (2022 film)

As a child, Dorothy Goodwin loses the class presidency year after year to jokester Brent Hart, the son of a Senator.

As an adult, Dorothy is a liberal environmentalist. She is arrested and bailed out of jail after unintentionally burning the U.S. flag. As a result, she loses her job as a speechwriter on a U.S. Senate campaign. Dorothy returns to her conservative Texas hometown of Alabaster to live with her grandfather, Frank. After learning Brent is running for the state legislature against Democrat Sally Jensen, who has already lost three times before, Dorothy creates an elaborate scheme to make him lose. She plans to go undercover as his opponent on the Republican ticket, win the primary nomination, and drop out before the midterms to force a victory for Sally.

While talking with her best friend Glenn over the phone, Dorothy accidentally disarms a thief robbing a convenience station. She is called a hero on the news. Her high school friend Greta, who opposes Brent because he plans to tear down the community center where she works and build a Ford dealership, serves as Dorothy's campaign manager and arranges a press tour using her connections in Alabaster. To win, Dorothy has to express support for the Republican policies she dislikes, such as the right to bear arms. The town matriarch, Genie, sponsors her campaign. Glenn visits Dorothy from Washington and gives her a make-over.

Dorothy grows closer to her grandfather, who starts to promote her campaign. Dorothy is criticized on the news when she takes a pregnant Greta to a Planned Parenthood health clinic. Greta publicly declares she is pro-choice, which damages the campaign. Privately, Brent tells Dorothy that he once drove his college girlfriend to have an abortion. He also apologizes for his actions as a child. Dorothy, in return, criticizes him for running for selfish reasons.

The next day, Brent announces the withdrawal of his candidacy. At the Alabaster Community Center, Sally tells Dorothy that she leaked the news of Greta's abortion because she is, in fact, pro-life. Sally details her plan to release the video of Dorothy's arrest after she accepts the Republican nomination. Shocked, Dorothy takes Greta outside and tells her the truth about her run for office. Greta is initially critical but understanding. Dorothy decides to help Greta run against her as an independent. Dorothy returns to her way of living, such as wearing a nose ring in public appearances. In September 2020, two months before the election, Greta is ahead in the polls.

• Joey Ally as Dorothy, a liberal running as a Republican in Texas
  • Elizabeth Kankiewicz as young Dorothy
• Bruce Dern as Frank, a veteran and Dorothy's grandfather
• Meredith Hagner as Greta, Dorothy's high school friend and campaign manager
• D'Angelo Lacy as Glenn, Dorothy's best friend from Washington
• Ali Larter as Victoria, a news reporter and Greta's friend
• Ian Harding as Brent, a Republican running for the state legislature in Texas
  • Wesley Kimmel as young Brent
• Nora Dunn as Genie, the chair of the Women's Chamber of Commerce
• Melora Walters as Sally Jensen, a Democrat running for the state legislature in Texas

On February 18, 2022, Vertical Entertainment acquired the film's distribution rights.[1] The film was released in the United States on March 18, 2022.[2]

Bruce Dern's performance received praise.[3][4]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 8 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.1/10.[5]

Peter Sobczynski at RogerEbert.com praised the performances of Hagner and Dern but criticized the film's approach to the abortion debate, calling it "a mess that's bereft of laughs, ideologically suspect, and tedious from start to finish. If it does bring people from both sides of the political spectrum together, it will only be in a shared sense of utter boredom."[3] Movie Mom's Nell Minow said Ally was "better as a writer than a director and better as a director than an actor, but the screenplay is strong enough to overcome some rookie mistakes. The best thing about the movie is its refusal to make any character one-dimensional or completely unsympathetic, especially when we find our own expectations challenged."[6] Susan Wloszczyna of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists called Ally a "one-woman band".[4] Movie Nation's Roger Moore said the "cleverest thing about The Hater is the way it upends expectations just enough to keep things interesting and make you wonder 'How will Ally write her way out of this?' And then Ally manages just that."[7]

• The Hater at IMDb