Jennifer Lawrence’s No Hard Feelings flies high at the box office

With this number, it is on track to become the best-performing R-rated comedy film at the box office this decade. Its domestic haul of $33.1 million already makes it the highest-grossing film of that genre since 2019, at the very least.

At first glance, there is nothing spectacular and worthy of plaudits about the film's box office performance, especially since this year has had its fair share of box office successes. That said, there's some extra baggage to undress here.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse are obvious examples with hauls of $1.3 billion plus, $830 million plus, and $610 million plus at the box office, respectively.

However, when you consider that R-rated genres have mostly been relegated to streaming platforms over the past couple of years, you will begin to have an appreciation for the performance of the Jennifer Lawrence-led film.

No Hard Feelings tells the story of Lawrence's Maddie Barker, a 32-year-old Uber driver who is on the verge of bankruptcy after her car was repossessed. Desperate to get a grip on her failing fortune, she accepts a deal to date a couple's 19-year-old introverted son in exchange for a new car.

The film has generated controversy and has been accused of sexual grooming. Given its premise, we can't say we are surprised. Imagine if the roles were reversed and it was a 32-year-old man trying to date a 19-year-old woman? That would generate outrage for days.

In its defense, people involved with the film have come out to say that the film does not attempt to make a case for grooming. During an interview, Andrew Barth Feldman, Lawrence's co-star, said that the film is about flawed people and will make people cringe and uncomfortable.

Despite the controversy, many critics agree it is a good movie. More importantly, the audience thinks so, too. At the time of writing, the film has an audience score of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. Google users rate it even higher as it has a 90% approval score on the platform.

With this level of acceptance, the film is single-handedly making the case that R-rated movies still have a place in theaters, where No Hard Feelings is currently screening worldwide.