I Feel Pretty

**I Feel Pretty** is a 2018 film starring Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Rory Scovel, Emily Ratajkowski, Aidy Bryant, Tom Hopper, Naomi Campbell and Lauren Hutton, directed and written by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein and produced by Nicolas Chartier, McG, Alissa Phillips, Dominic Rustam, Amy Schumer and Mary Viola.

The film was a financial failure as it generated a loss of $16 million.

## Plot

Renee Bennett struggles with low self-esteem and manages the website for a cosmetics firm. When a vacancy for a receptionist comes up at their headquarters she decides not to apply after reading the job description's emphasis on being beautiful. She wishes at a fountain to be beautiful and the next day falls and hits her head. She wakes with the belief that her appearance has magically changed.

Renee approaches the world with newfound confidence. When Ethan speaks to her innocuously she insists that they exchange numbers. She applies for the receptionist position and is hired by CEO Avery LeClaire.

Renee asks Ethan out and enters a "bikini body" contest. She wins over the crowd but loses the competition, and tells Ethan that she doesn't need external validation to know she's beautiful. Ethan praises her self-knowledge, and she appreciates his openness over not yet knowing himself. They meet again for a picnic after which they spend the night together.

Renee earns her coworkers' respect with her insight into the company's new diffusion line. Avery confides in Renee her insecurity over her high-pitched voice, feeling she is not taken seriously. Avery invites Renee and Ethan to a dinner meeting with Grant and company founder Lilly LeClaire. Renee builds rapport with Lilly, and Avery invites Renee to an important business meeting in Boston to give a key presentation.

Renee becomes superficial in her treatment of people. She is judgmental of LeClaire visitors who are not fashionable or glamorous, and ditches her friends Vivian and Jane to attend an exclusive party with her coworkers.

In Boston she nearly gives in to Grant's romantic overtures, avoiding a kiss when she receives a message from Ethan. She locks herself in the bathroom to avoid Grant, and while questioning her sense of self and her superficial behaviour, she suffers a new head injury in a fall in the shower. When she awakens, she perceives her real physical appearance.

Devastated, she leaves the hotel alone for New York, missing the crucial work presentation she was due to give.

She holes up in her apartment, avoiding Ethan and Avery's calls, binge-drinking, and eating junk food. Drunk and miserable, she turns up at her friends' apartment and apologizes for her behaviour. They reject her apology. Assuming Ethan will no longer be attracted to her, she breaks up with him over the phone, moments after speaking to him in person believing he does not recognize her. Ethan is brokenhearted by Renee's rejection, blaming himself for having come on too strong.

Renee tries but fails to recreate her original injury that she believes made her beautiful. She encounters her beautiful acquaintance, Mallory, who is devastated over being dumped. Mallory says she suffers from low self-esteem and feels people assume her beauty means she is unintelligent.

When Renee hears that Mallory is auditioning to model for the LeClaire diffusion line, she realizes that LeClaire is still out of touch with everyday women. She crashes the product launch and, in the course of a presentation where she displays her own before-and-after photos, she realizes she was never transformed and had always been beautiful. She gives an impassioned speech about women accepting themselves as they are, presenting a collage of diverse real women, including Vivian and Jane, who appreciate the gesture. Grant and Lilly praise Avery for having the acumen to hire Renee; together, they are key to the success of the new line of products.

Renee goes to Ethan's apartment and apologizes, explaining that her insecurities were related to her feelings about herself and not to her feelings for him. Ethan tells her that she has always been the most beautiful woman in the world in his eyes, and they reconcile, confident and happy.