I Used to Be Funny

I Used to Be Funny is a 2023 Canadian comedy-drama film written and directed by Ally Pankiw. The film stars Rachel Sennott as Sam, a stand-up comedian living in Toronto who is struggling with depression that has impacted her career after Brooke (Olga Petsa), a young girl for whom she previously served as a nanny, goes missing. Sabrina Jalees, Caleb Hearon, Ennis Esmer, Dani Kind, and Jason Jones also star.
Samantha "Sam" Cowell, a comedian and nanny in Toronto, is matched with a nannying job through an agency, through which she meets 12-year-old Brooke and her father, Cameron. Brooke's mother and Cameron's wife is sick and in the hospital. Brooke is initially resistant to having a nanny; however, Sam builds a relationship with her and they bond.
In the present-day storyline, Brooke, now 14, is missing, and Sam is struggling with PTSD and no longer performing comedy. A series of flashbacks reveals how Sam's relationship with Brooke and her family deteriorates. As Sam and Brooke grow close, Sam becomes more enmeshed in the family. Brooke's father is oblivious to the appeal of Sam's comedy initially, but later appears to warm to it more, showing his friends clips of her performances online, which include content around her dating and sex life. Brooke's mother dies, and Brooke and Cameron grieve their loss, with Cameron shown to be drinking more.
One night, as Sam is leaving to celebrate her anniversary with her boyfriend Noah, Cameron is drunk and comes onto Sam while referencing her comedy performances that describe her preferences for rough sex. Sam rejects him, and Cameron's aggression increases. Cameron rapes Sam. Sam, in shock after the assault, goes to wake Brooke, and tells her there is a carbon monoxide leak to get her out of the house. Sam takes Cameron's car and drives away with Brooke, eventually pulling over to call the police.
Sam is examined at the hospital and reports the rape to the police. At a court hearing, Cameron is convicted of the rape and is sentenced to five years in prison. Brooke is angry with Sam and visits her home, throwing a rock through her window and calling her a liar. Shortly afterwards, she goes missing.
Sam returns to Brooke and Cameron's home, entering with the key she still has. In the house, now abandoned as it has been sold, she finds traces of Brooke, including her journal. In it, she finds a phone number for someone named Nathan. She calls, pretending to be a friend of Brooke's, and he reveals his location. Sam leaves her roommates' party to find Brooke in Niagara Falls and bring her back.
When Sam discovers Brooke, she is on drugs, staying with Nathan, an older boy. Although Brooke and Nathan resist Sam, Sam pepper sprays Nathan, then takes Brooke back to the motel where she is staying. When Brooke sobers up, they argue, with Brooke initially calling Sam a liar and blaming Sam for ruining her family, eventually admitting she is hurt by Sam abandoning her. They reconcile and Sam begins driving them back home. In the car, Brooke says she has one more condition before she is returned home. Sam and Brooke visit Niagara Falls, and Sam performs comedy once again.
I Used to Be Funny premiered at the South by Southwest festival on March 13, 2023, with Levelfilm acquiring distribution rights in Canada. It later screened at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival in May. That August, Utopia acquired distribution rights in the United States. At the 2023 Woodstock Film Festival, it screened on September 28 and October 1.
The film was released theatrically in the United States and in Canada on June 7, 2024, and on digital platforms on June 18.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 60 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Bringing a droll edge to deeply serious subject matter, Ally Pankiw's feature length debut provides Rachel Sennott a welcome opportunity to display her dramatic range." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Jason Bailey of The Playlist wrote that "the flashbacks are reasonably well-integrated, though it takes a few scenes to hook into what they're doing and where we are, and some of the stylistic devices to signal them are a little shopworn (there are copious echoing voices haunting the soundtrack). But the construction isn't entirely effective. It ends up unwinding like a thriller, carefully hiding not a killer, but a secret, a device that borders on deception and tips into that territory — particularly near the end, when the details they've been withholding are released as easy exposition dumps in flat, pro forma courtroom scenes."
For Exclaim!, Rachel Ho rated the film 7/10, writing that "Pankiw's use of mystery and thriller to build compelling tension shows a remarkable command over the tone of her film, particularly impressive in a first feature. Her confidence is evident as she reroutes and backtracks the story, going from point B to point A without losing focus."
Jake Kring-Schreifels of The Film Stage graded the film a B, writing that "to her screenplay's credit, Pankiw manages to avoid a full-on mystery. The worry in these kinds of movies is that the effort to obfuscate and hint at the heart of the problem doesn't pay off. But the reveal here is thoughtfully constructed (a courtroom scene shows the humiliating way jokes can be taken out of context to serve a prosecutor's favor) and further clarifies Brooke's decision to abandon her family. "Don't think about Euphoria," Phillip tells Sam before she begins a feverish, final hunt for Brooke. It's a humorous touch to this contemporary story about reconciling the past by taking control of the present, and using your gifts to get you out of the dark."
Peter Sobczynski of The Spool was more negative, writing that "Ultimately, I Used to Be Funny proves to be as aimless as its heroine, though nowhere near as interesting. It has ambitions, I suppose, but it doesn't know how to execute them. As a result, the feature kind of stumbles around before arriving at a finale nowhere near as cathartic as it would like. That said, Sennott is very good here. I cannot quite recommend that you see it. Still, hopefully, someone out there will catch her work here, realize her versatility, and give her a role in a project more deserving of her talents."