Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Elisabeth Moss)

Have you signed up for counselling or therapy to discuss the complicated issues you are experiencing in your intimate relationship? Then cancel that appointment post haste and put your money on The One I Love, the new romantic comedy and film debut from director Charlie McDowell. You will see that this story will quiet those marital gremlins that show up at the oddest of times and wreak havoc on your happy home.

Wrapped within the jacket of science fiction, The One I Love is a smart and finely crafted curious film, starring Mark Duplass and Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss who play Ethan and Sophie. This couple is teeter-tottering on the cliff of separation, until they sit on the couch of the therapist, played by Ted Danson. The Therapist suggests to the couple a break from their familiar settings and retreat to a charming abode with a guest house full of magic. There Ethan and Sophie slowly but surely come to terms with their relationship but in the most mysterious of ways and in the company of people they do not expect.

Duplass and Moss amuse the audience, moving back and forth between the archives of the relationship to retrieve unattended matters such as jealousy and infidelity; distraction when a situation called for paying attention; and the most common of issue: the growth of your partner into someone your partner does not recognize.

Yes, McDowell’s The One I Love could be just the therapy you need to rekindle that spark of enchantment that showed up at your first encounter with each other. Plus, it’ll save you some money! Oh, a note of trivia: Charlie McDowell is the son of Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenbergen.

The One I Love plays thru Thursday, September 25th at The Ross Media Arts Center in Lincoln.

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