Charlie Harper (film)

The film chronicles a young woman, Harper, and a young man, Charlie, who after meeting leave their lives behind and attempt to build a life together in a new city. As Harper works to build a career as a chef, and Charlie struggles to get himself on track, their relationship faces growing challenges.

• Emilia Jones as Harper
• Nick Robinson as Charlie
• Nicholas Cirillo
• Virginia Tucker as Jessica
• Sebastian Delascasas as David
• Ja’Quan Henderson as Brian

In May 2023, it was reported that Emilia Jones would star in Charlie Harper for Temple Hill Entertainment and producer Patrick Wachsberger.^[2] Toby Wallace was initially in talks to star opposite Jones.^[2] By September 2025, it was reported Nick Robinson had been cast as the lead opposite Jones.^[3]

Charlie Harper premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 4, 2025.^[4] That same month, it was reported that Row K Entertainment had acquired U.S. distribution rights.^[5] The film was released on September 25, 2026.^[6]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 59% of 27 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.8/10.^[7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[8]

Mikkel Frederiksen of Film Threat gave the film a score of 8 out 10 and wrote, "Charlie Harper draws easy comparisons to 500 Days of Summer and La La Land with its depiction of imagined lives and the influence our partners have on our personal journey of self-discovery, but Dean and Eldridge offer those same themes in a more earthbound package that'll likely strike a chord with a lot of people."^[9] In a mixed review, Guy Lodge of Variety wrote, "Likelier to be found by audiences on VOD, it zigzags with some grace between the peaks and troughs of the romance at its center, but never gathers much momentum or even much depth of emotion; we surmise well before the end that our lovers probably aren't meant to be, and for that we may feel some wistful, knowing sadness. But our hearts don't break for them."^[10] Christian Zilko of IndieWire gave the film a B−, writing, "The lack of originality and occasional on-the-nose dialogue cancel out most of its rewatch value, but it's hard not to be affected in the moment by the sincerity of its storytelling and the chemistry between Robinson and Jones."^[11]