'Everybody Wants to F— Me' Pokes Fun at Performative Nice Guys

The Rise of the Performative Nice Guy

As someone who has watched countless romantic comedies unfold on screen, I've come to appreciate a good, well-crafted date movie. But 'Everybody Wants to Fuck Me' takes that familiar template and flips it into something far more unsettling — and hilarious.

I think it can be both! says Jonathan Schey about his feature debut, premiering in Toronto, and a film he says was his attempt to "poke fun at performative nice guys" in the dating world.

At first glance, this film seems like a parody of the worst date movie clichés — a man who is too well-read, too politically correct, too culturally aware. But as the narrative unfurls, we find ourselves in a very different realm entirely. This isn't your typical romantic comedy. We're talking about a genre-bending, satirical fever dream where one man's carefully curated persona becomes a weapon in the hands of those he's trying to seduce.

Meet Adam: The Archetypal Performative Nice Guy

The film stars Taron Egerton as Adam, a character who ticks all the boxes of the modern, polite, thoughtful, feminist and culturally-rich man. He carries a Mubi tote bag and has a poster of Agnes Varda's 'Cléo from 5 to 7' on his wall. He buys Maya Angelou novels from his local bookshop and reads them in independent coffee shops over a flat white after yoga class. He has a cute little dog (a terrier) he goes jogging with.

And yet, Adam is also a predatory dater and fuckboy (a 'horny little freak' according to one character), who uses his carefully crafted persona to chat up any attractive woman in his vicinity, only to then ditch them post-hook up by blaming, among many well-rehearsed excuses, his 'bojangled headspace.'

The Satirical Edge

Schey sets out with the idea of taking a 'When Harry Met Sally'-style movie and smashing it against another genre. And boy, does he deliver. The film becomes a horror-thriller when Adam's desirability levels skyrocket uncontrollably, prompting a crescendo of chaos that moves the narrative into terrifying territory — one pack of women chasing after him down a street.

The need to be looked at and gazed turns on him — it's become the gaze on steroids,” says Schey.

What starts as a date movie becomes an examination of how our cultural fascination with being 'nice' can actually breed manipulation and exploitation. The film doesn't just mock Adam; it mocks the entire system that allows these characters to thrive.

Behind the Scenes: A Cast of Characters

Alongside Egerton, 'Everybody Wants to Fuck Me' boasts a buzzy British cast including Jessica Henwick, Charly Clive and Mia McKenna-Bruce (the 'How to Have Sex' star's small role was inspired by Drew Barrymore's in 'Scream'). Meanwhile, 'SNL U.K.' season 1 breakout Paddy Young makes a brief appearance (in his feature film debut), as does season 2 addition Freddie Meredith.

The inspiration for the film began in a way that Adam would thoroughly approve of — via a female stand-up comedian at London's Soho Theatre. Several years ago, Schey's friend Mary Beth Barone (who recently landed her own Netflix special) was doing a show in which she would quiz guys about their online dating life. He “naively” agreed to take part.

She had my messages and my profile projected behind her and was analyzing it scientifically, and I'd done the whole spiel of going on dates and then sending these essays being like, 'Sorry, I'm not in a great headspace, blah blah blah,'” he says. “And the reaction in the room was really interesting. Women were yelling and laughing and cheering at her destroying my Hinge profile, and the guys were all like, 'Oh, shit.'”

But amid the embarrassment as his dating app nice guy routine was gleefully ripped apart, Schey saw an opportunity. “I just remember thinking, there's something here to tap into. There's a frustration, there's an anger, but there's a relatability to everyone's exhaustion with dating. So a lot of the movie was poking fun at myself.”

From Mubi Bags to Cultural Critique

Schey — who previously directed both seasons of cult BBC series 'Ladhood' — admits that he once had a poster on his wall for Joachim Trier's 'The Worst Person in the World,' but was told to take it down by a friend.

I was like, 'Why?' and she said, 'You know why — because it's showing that you love feminist movies and arthouse movies,' he says. “And 90% of me was like, 'No, I love that movie,' and 10% of me was like, 'Yeah.'”

This self-awareness is what makes 'Everybody Wants to Fuck Me' so effective. It's not just a film about a man who can't get it right; it's a cultural mirror reflecting our own uncomfortable truths about the dating world and how it's shaped by performative behaviors.

Conclusion: The Gaze on Steroids

'Everybody Wants to Fuck Me' is more than just an entertaining rom-com-thriller-satire. It's a searing critique of a societal obsession with being perceived as 'nice' — especially when that niceness becomes a tool for manipulation and control.

With Taron Egerton leading the charge, we're reminded that the real danger lies not in the villain, but in the well-meaning characters who think they're just being helpful — until they aren't. The film's sharp humor is matched by its uncomfortable truths, making it one of the most incisive and hilarious explorations of modern dating culture in recent memory.