Appropriate Behavior (2015)
81%RT Audience Score: 64%
Awards & Nominations: 2 wins & 10 nominations
Warm, funny, and quietly profound, Appropriate Behavior serves as a thoroughly compelling calling card for writer, director, and star Desiree Akhavan
Appropriate Behaviour is the perfect movie for anyone who loves dry humor and witty one-liners. While some critics may find fault with the film’s ending, the rest of us can appreciate the sharp writing and relatable characters. Desiree Akhavan’s debut is a refreshing take on love, loss, and the struggles of being a bisexual Iranian-American Brooklynite. So grab some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the ride. Just don’t give us any of your lesbian orphan propaganda!
Production Company(ies)
The 10 East Vanishing Angle
Distributor
Gravitas Ventures
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2015
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 26m
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Language(s):English, Persian
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Country of origin:United States, United Kingdom
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 16, 2015 Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 5, 2015
Genre(s)
Comedy/LGBTQ+
Keyword(s)
starring Desiree Akhavan, Rebecca Henderson, Scott Adsit, Halley Feiffer, Anh Duong, Hooman Majd, directed by Desiree Akhavan, written by Desiree Akhavan, comedy, LGBTQ+, box office performance, budget, reviewed by KaeLyn, Candice Frederick, Ryan Gilbey, Mark Kermode, Geoffrey Macnab, Wendy Ide, Yasmin Omar, Nick Levine, Cameron Ward, Patrick Gamble, Naila Scargill, Stephen Saito, produced by Cecilia Frugiuele, MPAA rating, Brooklynite, Persian family, bisexual, relationship, girlfriend, daycare teaching job, three-way, commitment, jealousy, flashbacks, identity, calling card, warm, funny, quietly profound
Worldwide gross: $123,699
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $154,410
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,976
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 16,839
US/Canada gross: $46,912
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $58,559
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,736
US/Canada opening weekend: $19,114
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $23,859
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,451
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Rebecca Henderson – Maxine
Scott Adsit – Ken
Halley Feiffer – Crystal
Anh Duong – Nasrin
Hooman Majd – Mehrdad
Director(s)
Desiree Akhavan
Writer(s)
Desiree Akhavan
Producer(s)
Cecilia Frugiuele
Film Festivals
Sundance
Awards & Nominations
2 wins & 10 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (62) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (59) | Rotten (3)
The humor was so dry, but it was so good.
August 12, 2021
KaeLyn
Autostraddle
TOP CRITIC
… while its themes are important, they’ve all but fallen to the wayside by the film’s third act, which becomes a far too typical hipster comedy (think Frances Ha) with an anticlimactic ending that doesn’t bring any closure to Shirin’s story.
September 1, 2017 | Rating: B-
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
[Akhavan is] a whiz at writing characters whose life seems to extend beyond their brief screentime.
March 11, 2015
Ryan Gilbey
New Statesman
TOP CRITIC
Despite its navel-gazing tendencies, this retains a spicily frank comedic edge, laced with the kind of bitingly quotable epithets you’ll wish you’d thought of yourself.
March 8, 2015 | Rating: 3/5
Mark Kermode
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The writer-director-star Desiree Akhavan’s lesbian romcom is well observed and often very witty.
March 6, 2015 | Rating: 3/5
Geoffrey Macnab
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Unconventional but rewarding.
March 6, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Wendy Ide
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The movie feels like a feature-length episode of Girls (in which Akhavan would later guest-star), awash with bratty outbursts, awkward threesomes and sloppy physical comedy.
June 25, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Yasmin Omar
Harper’s Bazaar
Far from another trendy comedy, Appropriate Behaviour is sharp, charming and crammed full of life, warts and all.
May 27, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Nick Levine
NME
Desiree Akhavan’s freely accomplished feature debut brings undoubted talent to new tales of love, loss and lesbianism.
May 31, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Cameron Ward
One Room With A View
An endearingly frank, and bittersweet self-portrait of life as a bi-sexual Iranian-American Brooklynite.
April 4, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Patrick Gamble
CineVue
A script that is often hilarious-“Don’t give me your lesbian orphan propaganda!”- delivered via quick-fire dialogue, boasts an improvised feel, while the edit adeptly weaves together the film’s intercut timelines.
February 28, 2019
Naila Scargill
Trebuchet
Ignorance may be bliss for Shirin since knowledge of what’s going on only seems to create more anxiety, yet Akhavan is quite savvy both in playing her and writing her, following certain well-worn story tropes just to upend them.
November 15, 2018
Stephen Saito
Moveable Fest…
Plot
A secretly bisexual Brooklynite struggles with her identity and the disintegration of her relationship with her girlfriend in Appropriate Behavior.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film’s writer, director, and star, Desiree Akhavan, delivers a “thoroughly compelling calling card” with Appropriate Behavior, according to Fresh Kernels.
Desiree-Akhavan.jpg
