You know those questions: “Would you kill for your children?” or “How far would you go to protect them?”—even if they’re unborn and adopted? I Don’t Understand You is a horror-comedy that takes those questions and runs with them straight into chaos.
Written and directed by real-life husbands David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano, the film follows Dom and Cole (Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells), a wealthy and happily married couple in LA who are ready to become dads. While celebrating their 10-year anniversary with a romantic trip to Italy, they get a long-awaited call from Candace (Amanda Seyfried, in a delightful surprise), a pregnant woman they’re hoping to adopt from.
But their dreamy vacation devolves into a nightmare when a tragic accident throws them into survival mode. Now, the two gays who “just wanna be dads” find themselves covering up a death, navigating cultural barriers, and desperately trying to get back home to the child waiting for them.
Tonally, the film hits a delicate balance, braiding sharp humor with escalating dread. Dom and Cole aren’t sociopaths; they’re just in way over their heads, and their chemistry as a couple gives the absurdity a grounded emotional core. The story cleverly uses accidental murder and adoptive-parent anxiety as a satirical tool, pushing the question of how far someone will go to become a parent.
What makes I Don’t Understand You resonate is that it doesn’t shy away from showing queer characters as messy, flawed, and yes, sometimes deranged in their desperation. And that’s a kind of progress, too. The film embraces the extremity of its premise while staying emotionally earnest. It’s a bloody love letter to chosen family, parental panic, and gay neurosis, served with a side of pasta and panic.
CHRISKRATING★★★☆☆
