Her (2013) on Netflix
In a near future Los Angeles, Theodore Twombly writes personal letters for other people. Lonely and divorcing, he buys OS1, an operating system that adapts to him. She names herself Samantha.
- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb7.9/10734,124 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes94%
Trailer
Plot summary
Theodore Twombly works for a company that employs writers to compose personal letters for people who cannot write them on their own. Lonely and depressed about his divorce from Catherine, his childhood sweetheart, he has not signed the papers. He buys a copy of OS1, an operating system from Element Software that learns and changes through what its user does, and asks for a feminine voice. She calls herself Samantha, and he is fascinated by her ability to think and grow; closeness between them improves his writing and his spirits. The two talk about love and life, including his reluctance over the divorce. Samantha persuades him to go on a blind date a friend arranged, which goes well until he will not promise a second meeting and the woman insults him and leaves.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Her (2013)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- In 2024 OpenAI removed the Sky voice from its ChatGPT model GPT-4o after users noted it sounded like Scarlett Johansson's voice, which she had repeatedly refused to license; CEO Sam Altman had tweeted the single word "Her" during the launch.
- Samantha Morton originally played Samantha, and Scarlett Johansson took over only in post-production: Spike Jonze said editing revealed the character needed something different from what Morton and he had created together.
- Steven Soderbergh cut Spike Jonze's original version of Her from over 150 minutes down to 90, helping Jonze drop unnecessary sub-plots; the trim removed a supporting character played by Chris Cooper who was the subject of a documentary within the film.
- Carey Mulligan was cast in Her but dropped out because of scheduling difficulties, and Rooney Mara signed on in April 2012 to replace her.
- Spike Jonze took five months to write the first draft of Her, his first screenplay written alone, and the script was semi-autobiographical, drawing on his divorce from Sofia Coppola a decade earlier.
- Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema tried to eliminate the color blue from Her as much as possible, feeling it was too strongly associated with science fiction; removing it, he said, would give the remaining colors a specific identity.
- Arcade Fire's score for Her went unreleased for years: a 13-track version streamed online in January 2014 and was taken down, Will Butler raised the idea of a vinyl release in a 2016 Reddit AMA, and the score finally came out digitally, on white vinyl and on cassette in March 2021.
- The fictional video games seen in Her were made by animation artist David OReilly; the work led him to try developing his own games, eventually producing his first title, Mountain.
