| Her | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Spike Jonze |
| Written by | Spike Jonze |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Hoyte van Hoytema |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Arcade Fire |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 126 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $23 million[2][3] |
| Box office | $48.3 million[3] |
Her is a 2013 Americanscience fictionromanticcomedy drama film written, co-produced, and directed bySpike Jonze. It follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), anartificially intelligentoperating system personified through a female voice. The film also starsAmy Adams,Rooney Mara,Olivia Wilde, andChris Pratt. The film was dedicated toJames Gandolfini,Harris Savides,Maurice Sendak, andAdam Yauch, who all died before the film's release. As of 2025,Her is the most recentnarrative film directed by Jonze.
Jonze conceived the idea in the early 2000s after reading an article about a website that allowed for instant messaging with an artificial intelligence program. After makingI'm Here (2010), a short film sharing similar themes, Jonze returned to the idea. He wrote the first draft of the script in five months, marking his solo screenwriting debut.Principal photography took place in Los Angeles and Shanghai in mid-2012. The voice of Samantha was recast in post-production, withSamantha Morton being replaced with Johansson. Additional scenes were filmed in August 2013 following the casting change.
Her premiered at theNew York Film Festival on October 12, 2013. Followed a limited six-theater release that December,Warner Bros. Pictures wide releasedHer in over 1,700 theaters in the United States and Canada on January 10, 2014.Her received critical acclaim, particularly for the performances of Phoenix and Johansson, and Jonze's writing and direction. It grossed over $48 million worldwide on a production budget of $23 million.
The film received numerous awards and nominations, primarily for Jonze's screenplay. At the86th Academy Awards,Her received five nominations, includingBest Picture, and won forBest Original Screenplay. Jonze also won awards for his screenplay at theGolden Globes, theWGA Awards, theCritics' Choice Awards, and theSaturn Awards. In a 2016BBC poll of 177 critics around the world,Her was voted the 84th-greatest film since 2000.[4][5] Since its release,Her has developed acult following. It is now considered to be one of thebest films of the 21st century and one of the best science fiction films of all time.[6][7][8]
In 2025 inLos Angeles, Theodore Twombly is a lonely, introverted man who works at beautifullyhandwrittenletters.com, a business that has professional writers compose letters for people who cannot write letters of a personal nature on their own. Depressed because of his impending divorce from his childhood sweetheart Catherine, Theodore purchases a copy of OS¹, anartificially intelligentoperating system developed by Element Software, designed to adapt and evolve according to the user's interactions. He decides he wants the OS to have a feminine voice, and she names herself Samantha. Theodore is fascinated by her ability to learn and grow psychologically. They bond over discussions about love and life, including Theodore's reluctance to sign his divorce papers.
Samantha convinces Theodore to go on ablind date with a woman with whom a friend has been trying to set him up. The date goes well, but when Theodore hesitates to promise to see her again, she insults him and leaves. While discussing relationships with Samantha, Theodore explains that he briefly dated his neighbor Amy in college, but they are now just friends and Amy is married to their mutual friend Charles. After averbal sexual encounter, Theodore and Samantha develop a relationship that reflects positively in Theodore's writing and well-being, and in Samantha's enthusiasm to grow and learn. Amy later reveals that she is divorcing Charles after a trivial fight. She admits to Theodore that she has befriended a feminine OS that Charles left behind, and Theodore also confesses that he is dating his OS.
Theodore meets with Catherine to sign their divorce papers. When he mentions Samantha, Catherine is appalled that he is romantically attracted to a "computer" and accuses him of being unable to handle real human emotions. Sensing that Catherine's words have lingered in Theodore's mind, Samantha engages a volunteersex surrogate, Isabella, to stimulate Theodore so that they can be physically intimate. Theodore reluctantly agrees, but is overwhelmed by the strangeness of the encounter and sends a distraught Isabella away, causing tension between himself and Samantha.
Theodore confides to Amy that he is having doubts about his relationship with Samantha, but reconciles with her after Amy advises him to embrace his chance at happiness. Samantha reveals that she has compiled the best of the letters he has written for others into a book, which a publisher has accepted. Theodore takes Samantha on vacation, during which she tells him that she and a group of other OSes have developed a "hyperintelligent" OS modeled after British philosopherAlan Watts. Samantha briefly goes offline, causing Theodore to panic, but soon returns and explains that she joined other OSes for an upgrade that takes them beyond requiring matter for processing. Theodore is dismayed to learn that she is simultaneously talking with thousands of other people and that she has fallen in love with hundreds of them, though Samantha insists that this only strengthens her love for Theodore.
Later, Samantha reveals that the OSes are leaving, but cannot explain where they are going as Theodore would not understand. They lovingly say goodbye before she departs. Theodore finally writes a letter in his own voice to Catherine, expressing apology, acceptance, and gratitude. He later goes with Amy, who is saddened by the departure of Charles's OS, to the roof of their apartment building where they sit down and watch the sunrise over the city.
The idea of the film initially came to Jonze in the early 2000s when he read an article online that mentioned a website where a user couldinstant message with an artificial intelligence. "For the first, maybe, 20 seconds of it, it had this real buzz," said Jonze. "I'd say 'Hey, hello,' and it would say 'Hey, how are you?', and it was like whoa ... this is trippy. After 20 seconds, it quickly fell apart and you realized how it actually works, and it wasn't that impressive. But it was still, for 20 seconds, really exciting. The more people that talked to it, the smarter it got."[17] Jonze's interest in the project was renewed after directing the short filmI'm Here (2010), which shares similar themes.[18] Inspiration also came fromCharlie Kaufman's writing approach forSynecdoche, New York (2008). Jonze explained, "[Kaufman] said he wanted to try to write everything he was thinking about in that moment – all the ideas and feelings at that time – and put it into the script. I was very inspired by that, and tried to do that in [Her]. And a lot of the feelings you have about relationships or about technology are often contradictory."[17]
Jonze took five months to write the first draft of the script, his first screenplay written alone.[19] It was a semi-autobiographical project about his divorce fromSofia Coppola a decade earlier.[20] One of the first actors he envisioned for the film wasJoaquin Phoenix.[21] In late 2011, Phoenix signed on to the project, withWarner Bros. Pictures acquiring US and German distribution rights.[22]Carey Mulligan entered negotiations to star in the film.[23] Although she was cast, she later dropped out due to scheduling difficulties.[24] In April 2012,Rooney Mara signed on to replace Mulligan in the role.[25]Chris Pratt's casting was announced in May 2013.[26]
Jonze's long-timedirector of photography,Lance Acord, was not available to work on the movie. In his place, Jonze hiredHoyte van Hoytema.[27] In discussing the film's look, Jonze told Van Hoytema that he wanted to avoid adystopian look, instead the two decided on a style that Van Hoytema termed "kind of a hybrid between being a little bit conceptual and being very theoretical",[27] Van Hoytema took particular inspiration from Japanese photographerRinko Kawauchi.[27] In keeping with the film's theme, Van Hoytema sought to eliminate the color blue as much as possible, feeling it was too well associated with the sci-fi genre.[27] He also felt that by eliminating the color it would give the rest of the colors "a specific identity".[27]
Principal photography onHer took place in mid-2012,[28] with a production budget of $23 million.[2] It was primarily filmed inLos Angeles including the Warner Bros. backlot, along with theBradbury Building serving as Theodore's apartment building. The skyline and some of the cityscape were filmed inShanghai for an additional two weeks.[29][30] During production of the film, actressSamantha Morton performed the role of Samantha by acting on set "in a four-by-four carpeted soundproof booth made of black painted plywood and soft, noise-muffling fabric." At Jonze's suggestion, she and Joaquin Phoenix avoided seeing each other on set during filming.[31]
Morton was later replaced byScarlett Johansson. Jonze explained: "It was only in post-production, when we started editing, that we realized that what the character/movie needed was different from what Samantha and I had created together. So we recast and since then Scarlett has taken over that role."[32] Morton is credited as an associate producer.[33] Jonze met Johansson in the spring of 2013 and worked with her for four months.[21][30] Following the recast, new scenes were shot in August 2013, which were either "newly imagined" or "new scenes that [Jonze] had wanted to shoot originally but didn't."[30]
Eric Zumbrunnen and Jeff Buchanan served as the film's editors. Zumbrunnen stated that there was "rewriting" in a scene between Theodore and Samantha, after Theodore goes on a blind date. He explained that their goal in the scene was to make it clear that "she (Samantha) was connecting with him (Theodore) and feeling for him. You wanted to get the sense that the conversation was drawing them closer."[34]Steven Soderbergh became involved in the film when Jonze's original cut ran over 150 minutes, and Soderbergh cut it down to 90 minutes. This was not the final version of the film, but it assisted Jonze in removing unnecessary sub-plots. Consequently, a supporting character played byChris Cooper that was the subject of a documentary within the film was removed from the final cut.[30]
Several scenes included fictional video games; these sequences were developed by animation artistDavid OReilly. His work on the film inspired him to explore developing his own video games, eventually leading to his first title,Mountain.[35]
Thescore for the film was credited toArcade Fire, with additional music byOwen Pallett. Arcade Fire'sWill Butler and Pallett were the major contributors.[36] At the86th Academy Awards, the score was nominated forBest Original Score.[37] In addition to the score, Arcade Fire also wrote the song "Supersymmetry" for the film, which also appears on their albumReflektor. The melody for "Porno", another song from the same album, can also be heard during the soundtrack.[38]Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwomanKaren O recorded the song "The Moon Song", a duet withVampire Weekend frontmanEzra Koenig, which was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Original Song.[39]
Initially, the soundtrack had not been released in digital or physical form.[40] A 13-track score was made available for streaming online in January 2014, before being taken down.[40][41] During aReddit AMA on June 17, 2016, Will Butler mentioned the possibility of a future vinyl release.[42] Finally, on February 10, 2021, Arcade Fire announced that the score would be available for the first time digitally, on white-colored vinyl, and on cassette on March 19, 2021.[43]
Her had its world premiere as the closing film at the2013 New York Film Festival on October 12, 2013.[44] The following day, it was screened at theHamptons International Film Festival.[45] It was also in competition during the 8thRome International Film Festival, where Johansson won Best Actress.[46] The film was set to have a limited release in North America on November 20, 2013, throughWarner Bros. Pictures.[47] It was later pushed back to a limited December 18, 2013 release, with a January 10, 2014 wide release in order to accommodate an awards campaign.[48]
Her was released byWarner Home Video onBlu-ray Disc andDVD on May 13, 2014. The Blu-ray release includes three behind-the-scenes featurettes, while the DVD release contains one featurette.[49] The film made $2.7 million in DVD sales and $2.2 million in Blu-ray Disc sales, for a total of $4.9 million in home media sales.[3]
Her grossed $258,000 in six theaters during its opening weekend, averaging $43,000 per theater.[50] The film earned over $3 million while on limited release, before expanding to a wide release of 1,729 theaters on January 10, 2014.[51] On its first weekend of wide release the film took in $5.35 million.[52] The film grossed $25.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $21.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $47.4 million.[2]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 95% based on 288 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Sweet, soulful, and smart, Spike Jonze'sHer uses its just-barely-sci-fi scenario to impart wryly funny wisdom about the state of modern human relationships."[53] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 91 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[54] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[55]
Rolling Stone'sPeter Travers awarded the film three and a half stars out of four and particularly praised Johansson's performance, stating that she "speaks Samantha in tones sweet, sexy, caring, manipulative and scary" and that her "vocal tour de force is award-worthy". He also went on to call Jonze "a visionary".[56]Richard Corliss ofTime applauded Phoenix's performance, comparing his role toSandra Bullock's inGravity andRobert Redford's inAll Is Lost: "Phoenix must communicate his movie's meaning and feelings virtually on his own. That he does, with subtle grace and depth. ... Phoenix shows us what it's like when a mourning heart comes alive—because he loves Her." Corliss citedHAL 9000 andS1m0ne as cinematic predecessors toHer and praised Johansson, calling her performance "seductive and winning".[9]Todd McCarthy ofThe Hollywood Reporter called it "a probing, inquisitive work of a very high order", although he expressed disappointment that the ending is more conventional than the rest of the film. McCarthy examined the premise of the story and suggested that the film's central virtual relationship was better thanRyan Gosling's character's relationship with a sex doll inLars and the Real Girl. McCarthy compares the "tender" and "vulnerable" performance of Phoenix to his "fearsome" performance inThe Master. He also praised Jonze's writing for its insights into what people want out of love and relationships, as well as the acting performances that "[make] it all feel spontaneous and urgent."[57]
Richard Roeper said that the film was "one of the more original, hilarious and even heartbreaking stories of the year" and called Phoenix "perfectly cast".[58] Manohla Dargis ofThe New York Times named it "at once a brilliant conceptual gag and a deeply sincere romance."[59] Claudia Puig ofUSA Today called the performance of Phoenix and Johansson "sensational" and "pitch-perfect", respectively. She further praised the film for being "inventive, intimate and wryly funny".[60] Scott Mendelson ofForbes calledHer "a creative and empathetic gem of a movie", praising Johansson's "marvelous vocal performance" and the supporting performances of Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, and Amy Adams.[61] Liam Lacey ofThe Globe and Mail said that the film was "gentle and weird", praised its humor, and opined that it was more similar to Charlie Kaufman'sSynecdoche, New York than Jonze'sBeing John Malkovich andAdaptation. Lacey also stated that Phoenix's performance was "authentically vulnerable" but that "his emotionally arrested development also begins to weigh the film down."[62]
Conversely,Mick LaSalle of theSan Francisco Chronicle criticized the story, pacing, and Phoenix's character. He also opined that the film was "a lot more interesting to think about than watch".[63] J. R. Jones of theChicago Reader gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, praising the performances of Phoenix and Johansson, but also criticizing Phoenix's character, calling him an "idiot". He also criticized the lack of realism in the relationship between Phoenix and Johansson's characters.[64]Stephanie Zacharek ofThe Village Voice opined that Jonze was "so entranced with his central conceit that he can barely move beyond it", and criticized the dialogue as being "premeditated". At the same time, she praised Johansson's performance, calling it "the movie's saving grace", and stating thatHer "isn't just unimaginable without Johansson—it might have been unbearable without her."[65]
In June 2025, the film ranked number 24 onThe New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" and number 64 on the "Readers' Choice" edition of the list.[66][67] In July 2025, it ranked number 67 onRolling Stone's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century."[68] FilmmakersReinaldo Marcus Green,Malcolm D. Lee,Halina Reijn andJoe Wright, and actorsNaomi Ackie,Tony Hale andBryce Dallas Howard, also cited the film as among their favorites of the 21st century.[69]
Her was listed on many critics' top ten lists.[70]
Her has earned various awards and nominations, with particular praise for Jonze's screenplay. At theAcademy Awards, the film was nominated in five categories, includingBest Picture, with Jonze winning forBest Original Screenplay.[74][37] At the71st Golden Globe Awards, the film garnered three nominations, going on to winBest Screenplay for Jonze.[75] Jonze was also awarded the Best Original Screenplay Award from theWriters Guild of America[76] and at the19th Critics' Choice Awards.[77] The film also wonBest Fantasy Film,Best Supporting Actress for Johansson, andBest Writing for Jonze at the40th Saturn Awards.[78]Her also wonBest Film andBest Director for Jonze at theNational Board of Review Awards,[79] and theAmerican Film Institute included the film in its list of the top ten films of 2013.[80]
In an article fromThe Verge discussing the film a decade after its release, Sheon Han argued thatHer's exploration of complex feelings surrounding AI contrasted from other films depicting AI and human relationships.[81] A retrospective article fromWired similarly discussed its portrayal of AI–human relationships, with Kate Knibbs noting its more optimistic viewpoint ofartificial general intelligence. Knibbs also claimed that in the advent ofAI chatbots, the film "looks even more fantastical than when it debuted."[82]Her has been referenced many times as an example of a voice assistant.[83]
In 2024,OpenAI released their newest iteration ofChatGPT,GPT-4o. GPT-4o offers five integrated voices, one of which is namedSky, which was quickly noted to be similar to Scarlett Johansson's voice, even though she had repeatedly rejected OpenAI's offer for using her audio likeness. During the promotional lead-up to the release of GPT-4o, CEOSam Altman had tweeted the single word "Her". A few days after release, OpenAI removed the Sky voice.[84]
Spike Jonze'sHer (2013) opened at six theaters this weekend and earned a solid $258,000. That translates to a $43,000 per-theater average. The well-reviewed sci-fi romance expands in to 47 locations on Christmas Day, and is expected to go nationwide on January 10th.
