Film Review – Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass (2026)

      **Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, 2026.**

      Directed by David Wain.

      Starring Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Ben Wang, Richard Kind, Ken Marino, Thomas Lennon, Sabrina Impacciatore, Michael Cassidy, Joe Lo Truglio, Fred Melamed, Michael Ian Black, Mather Zickel, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Richard Ellis, Tobie Windham, Leon Masuda, Jennifer Aniston, Henry Winkler, ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Perkins, Penn Jillette, and Kerri Kenney.

      **SYNOPSIS:**

      After her fiancé invokes their "celebrity pass" agreement, Midwest bride Gail Daughtry heads to Hollywood, seeking revenge by pursuing her own celebrity encounter.

      One might expect a film titled *Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass* to provide some insightful commentary on the titular arrangement—which allows each partner to have a sexual encounter with a chosen celebrity if the opportunity presents itself—and how it relates to love, all through its comedic lens. This seems to be the intention of co-writer/director David Wain, who collaborated with regular partner Ken Marino on the screenplay, and who also appears in a supporting role. However, this expectation is ultimately unmet.

      The film fits the absurdist comedy genre, which isn’t unexpected given David Wain’s previous work. Yet, the storyline of a character seeking vengeance against her fiancé by pursuing a celebrity crush — prompted by her fiancé’s unexpected intimacy with his chosen celebrity (which she thought was a joking agreement) — veers into increasingly absurd crime antics that stretch believability, culminating in a third act that feels utterly disjointed.

      This frustration is compounded by the fact that for the first 45 minutes, the filmmakers skillfully maintain a balance between Gail's flirtatious quest to potentially save her relationship and a subplot involving bumbling Italian criminals attempting to recover a briefcase containing sensitive documents (which gets accidentally swapped at the airport with Gail’s hairstyling kit that she’s taking to a seminar in Los Angeles). The criminals, portrayed comedically convincingly, provide clever humor without forcing the laughs, mining relatable comedic situations from typical mobster clichés (notably, a scene where they spot a social media post revealing their location, yet still struggle to connect the dots).

      The story is conveyed through the eyes of Frank (Fred Melamed), a quirky local mailman breaking the fourth wall and occasionally appearing comical to passing bystanders. We get a glimpse of the long-standing relationship between Gail Daughtry (Zoey Deutch, who typically shines in eccentric roles, though here is occasionally hindered by uneven material) and her high school love Tom (Michael Cassidy), along with the small talk surrounding the celebrity sex pass and Tom's impulsive rendezvous with Jennifer Aniston while she promotes a cookbook. In need of clarity about her impending marriage, Gail embarks on a business trip, encouraged by her co-worker/friend Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) to seize the opportunity for her own encounter with her celebrity crush, Jon Hamm.

      The City of Angels is populated with stars, and the aforementioned Italian goons (played amusingly by Joe Lo Truglio and Mather Zickel) quickly find this out as they lose the valuables meant for their crime boss (Sabrina Impacciatore) while getting sidetracked by their desire for Gail to photograph them with a rushed but gracious Henry Winkler. This sets off their frantic mission to retrieve the briefcase, while Gail and Otto continually face misinformation about Jon Hamm’s location, encountering quirky characters such as an aspiring celebrity manager intern (Ben Wang), a dazed yet helpful paparazzi (Ken Marino) on a hunt for his dream shot, and John Slattery, the former Mad Men star living in a garage and practicing martial arts due to fading fame.

      Other recognizable faces appear, sometimes playing characters within the narrative, which disrupts the film's Hollywood theme; for instance, Richard Kind as a taxi driver. While the hunt for Jon Hamm offers moments of amusement (including a poignant yet humorous scene where John Slattery pretends to have an ongoing relationship with Hamm through a one-sided text conversation), David Wain either struggles to effectively utilize this premise or opts for a different, less engaging approach overall.

      It’s telling that there's a childhood photo of Gail and Tom dressed as characters from *The Wizard of Oz*, as viewing *Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass* can feel analogous; instead of seeking a wizard, they are chasing a celebrity for sexual reasons. Without strong characterization or a clear purpose behind the narrative, even a straightforward concept like this turns disappointing—especially as the film shifts towards a storyline involving mob confrontations. The humor wanes as it embraces the criminal elements, instead thriving on satire of Hollywood and celebrity culture.