---
title: "Me and You and Everyone We Know"
year: 2005
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know"
fi1m_id: "me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know"
imdb_id: "tt0415978"
tmdb_id: 1382
wikidata_id: "Q2559560"
fi1m_score: 74
critics_score: 61
critics_reviews: 6
published: "2026-09-15"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:30.118432+00:00"
region: "ES"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)

Directed by Miranda July · 1h 31m · Comedy, Drama

## Identity

Me and You and Everyone We Know

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know
- **IMDb ID:** tt0415978
- **TMDB ID:** 1382
- **Wikidata ID:** Q2559560
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0415978/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1382, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2559560

**Fi1m score: 74** · Critics 61 from 6 reviews

*In a sentence:* Miranda July makes walking down a street look like quite enough romance for one day

> Miranda July’s neighbourhood comedy finds real feeling in an awkward courtship and has the patience to notice lonely people. Its insistence on being odd can grate, but the central pair make the effort worthwhile.

## Synopsis

Conceptual artist Christine Jesperson (Miranda July) becomes interested in shoe salesman Richard Swersey (John Hawkes). As they approach a possible romance, the film follows other people in their neighbourhood who are looking for love, company or a way to make themselves understood. Robby Swersey (Brandon Ratcliff), Peter Swersey (Miles Thompson) and Sylvie (Carlie Westerman) are among the characters whose encounters run alongside the courtship. The stories touch on art, loneliness and young people’s curiosity about sex, while Christine and Richard try to work out how to get closer to each other.

## Review

Miranda July’s *Me and You and Everyone We Know* is a funny, affecting comedy whose determination to be peculiar sometimes gets in its way. July writes, directs and stars, and she takes the small humiliations of wanting company seriously. The film asks us to spend time with people who struggle to say what they want, even when they have found someone willing to listen. At its centre are a conceptual artist, Christine Jesperson, and a shoe salesman, Richard Swersey.

July plays Christine, with John Hawkes as Richard, and their courtship gives the scattered neighbourhood stories something worth returning to. Hawkes helps make the hesitancy between them feel plausible; there is room to wonder what the other person has understood. July’s performance is more conspicuously odd, but she lets Christine seem needy without asking us to congratulate her for being different. Their scenes are sufficiently engaging that we begin to resent being taken away from them.

The scene in which Christine and Richard imagine their walk as the course of an entire relationship could have been unbearably pleased with itself. We were moved by it. Giving their possible future a place along the street lets them acknowledge feelings they cannot yet discuss directly, and both performers make the game seem worth the risk of looking foolish. The cleverness remains visible, but so does the embarrassment of wanting a shared life before there is much evidence that one will be offered.

Chuy Chávez’s cinematography makes ordinary surroundings worth looking at, giving even a street sign enough attention to interrupt our interest in the people. That watchfulness suits a film about characters hoping to be noticed. Aran Mann’s production design keeps the neighbourhood recognisable, so the odd behaviour has something ordinary to stand against. Michael Andrews’s music encourages the gentleness, sometimes more insistently than the courtship needs.

Editors Andrew Dickler and Charles Ireland preserve the loose movement between characters, allowing the film to feel sociable without pretending everyone belongs in the same story. At 91 minutes it is compact, though the succession of vignettes can make it feel longer. Some characters are defined so insistently by their odd behaviour that there is little else to become interested in. The art-world satire supplies some welcome jokes along the way.

The scenes involving young people’s sexuality are harder to accept on those terms. July’s deliberately flat treatment can make innocence difficult to distinguish from a failure to think about harm. We do not need a lecture about boundaries, but the light comedy sometimes moves on before the discomfort has been properly acknowledged. The generosity that serves the courtship so well feels less reliable here.

The neighbourhood ensemble comedy can become a parade of amusing minor characters, and July occasionally lets that happen. Her useful distinction is a willingness to let the search for company look embarrassing without making the lonely person the target. Christine and Richard benefit most from that kindness, and their tentative interest in each other survives the film’s fussier habits. Try it for the central pair, with some patience for the neighbours.

*Fi1m score 74, published 15 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond warmly to Miranda July’s debut, with praise gathering around her writing, central performance and sympathy for lonely people trying to connect. The favourable reviews find tenderness and humour in the awkward encounters, and welcome a lack of cynicism that makes the eccentric characters worth caring about. July’s handling of everyday details also earns attention. For her admirers, the film finds fresh ways to approach familiar anxieties about love and belonging.

The spread is wide, however, and the disagreement centres on how those eccentricities come across. Even some favourable reviews find the storytelling loose and the quirkiness overworked. The Guardian sees a smug, insistently cute film despite its funny lines and art-world satire. The New Yorker’s objection is more troubling: it finds the treatment of underage sexuality affectless and self-satisfied, while still admiring the casual richness of certain observational scenes.

## Straight answers

**Is Me and You and Everyone We Know worth watching?**

*Me and You and Everyone We Know* is worth watching for anyone with patience for a deliberately odd neighbourhood comedy, and we scored it 74. Miranda July and John Hawkes make the tentative courtship at its centre funny and affecting, and one scene of theirs moved us. The vignettes around them can grate, and the film's insistence on being peculiar sometimes gets in its way.

**How long is Me and You and Everyone We Know, and what is it rated?**

*Me and You and Everyone We Know* runs 1h 31m. It is a comedy and drama film.

**Where can I watch Me and You and Everyone We Know in Spain?**

*Me and You and Everyone We Know* is not on any streaming or rental service in Spain at the moment. It is available in 2 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is Me and You and Everyone We Know, and is it suitable for children?**

*Me and You and Everyone We Know* contains no violence or frights to speak of, but it is not a film for children. It has no UK certificate and carries an R rating in the US, largely for its frank strand about young people's curiosity about sex, which the film treats with a deliberate flatness we found uneasy. Adults and older teenagers who can sit with that discomfort will be fine.

**How does Me and You and Everyone We Know compare to The Station Agent?**

*Me and You and Everyone We Know* and [*The Station Agent*](https://film.one/film/the-station-agent) are both patient comedies about lonely people who are slow to welcome company, but the earlier film is the steadier of the two. Tom McCarthy's plotting can get too helpful, yet Peter Dinklage's watchful performance holds it together, whereas July's film scatters itself across a neighbourhood and leans on oddness. Choose July's for its central pair, McCarthy's for the company.

**What should I watch after Me and You and Everyone We Know?**

After *Me and You and Everyone We Know*, try [*The Station Agent*](https://film.one/film/the-station-agent) (2003, Fi1m 82): Another patient comedy about lonely people who do not immediately welcome company. Then [*The Lunchbox*](https://film.one/film/the-lunchbox) (2013, Fi1m 75): An uncertain courtship develops through small exchanges, with loneliness given proper weight; and [*Local Hero*](https://film.one/film/local-hero) (1983, Fi1m 86): For gently peculiar encounters and a community observed with affection rather than fuss.

### Reviews we read (14)

- **Empire**, William Thomas (80/100, inferred): Writer/director/star Miranda July has created a beguiling treat with her debut feature, whose freshness and honesty defy lazy 'indie' labels. The tender, original movie is a wonderfully uplifting experience that succeeds in saying new things about old anxieties. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/everyone-know-review/)
- **The Times**, Wendy Ide (70/100, inferred): July's debut is a whimsical one-woman show about fragile connections between strangers, with quirky characters and loose storytelling. It lacks cynicism and has real charm despite feeling written and overly quirky. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/article/me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know-8dp675fwtmw)
- **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the film creepy and unsavory in its flat, affectless handling of underage sexuality and pleased with itself in those moments. He praises certain observational scenes for their casual richness and the way the camera captures everyday details like a street sign. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/06/27/bewildered)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film overly fey and quirky with a passive-aggressive cutesiness that requires high tolerance. It features funny lines and some art-world satire but ultimately reeks of indie smugness. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2005/aug/19/8)
- **IndieWire**, Indiewire: The review celebrates Miranda July's assured debut as a warm, quirky exploration of loneliness and connection in the digital age. It highlights her empathetic handling of eccentric characters and offbeat humor. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/american-beauty-miranda-julys-me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know-78190/)
- **Screen Daily**: Performance artist Miranda July makes a captivating jump into the almost-mainstream with this neighbourhood character study. The film is a showcase debut that will convince cinemagoers they need to get in on the ground floor for this talented newcomer. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know/4022523.article)
- **Slant Magazine**, Joe McGovern: The review notes July's winsome yet unsentimental touch in depicting people's longing for connection through quirky vignettes and found objects. It singles out the central awkward courtship and the film's playful yet melancholic tone for praise. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know/)
- **The AV Club**, Nathan Rabin: The critic praises the film as a near-perfect debut that balances quirky humor with genuine humanism and insight into modern alienation. July is lauded for her generous empathy toward flawed, lonely characters seeking connection. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know-1798308348)
- **The Independent** (***): The critic finds the film's offbeat characters engaging in their pursuit of love or avoidance of solitude, praising its guileless quality over typical indie quirkiness. It swerves from potentially dark territory toward light comedy and features a standout scene of the leads marking their walk as if it were an entire relationship. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/bewitched-pg-me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know-15-306735.html)
- **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott: The critic describes the film’s wide-eyed, quizzical approach as potentially naïve or charming yet ultimately calculated and affecting in its tentative romance and visual construction. He singles out the wistful relationship between the conceptual artist Christine and the shoe salesman Richard for praise. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/17/movies/an-artistic-eye-wide-open-observing-odd-lost-souls.html)
- **Time Out**, DC: Miranda July's debut is a tender, funny and intelligent meditation on the search for love and belonging in the modern world. July herself, as the film's heart and soul, provides a conduit for thinking about ourselves and the elusive search for community. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know)
- **Variety**, Scott Foundas: The critic calls it an inspired debut that brings a fresh perspective to human longing, loss, and connection through July’s quirky, unopportunistic vision. He singles out July’s enchanting central performance and the film’s sensitivity and optimism for praise. [Read](https://variety.com/2005/film/awards/me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know-1200528295/)
- **Eye for Film**, Anton Bitel (85/100, inferred): The critic finds the film an enthralling multi-layered exploration of characters striving to connect and overcome isolation. July's quirky, intelligent screenplay is praised for turning everyday details into metaphors for love, loneliness and faith, with an infectious sense of awe. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know-film-review-by-anton-bitel)
- **Paste**, Cameron Bird (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a quirky romantic dramedy with offbeat characters and situations treated with familiarity and restraint by first-time director Miranda July. It is praised as a precursor to a significant career in cinematic magical realism after winning a Sundance jury prize. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/miranda-july/me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know)

## Details

- **Director:** Miranda July
- **Director:** Miranda July
- **Writer:** Miranda July
- **Cinematography:** Chuy Chávez
- **Editor:** Andrew Dickler, Charles Ireland
- **Music:** Michael Andrews
- **Production design:** Aran Mann
- **Costume design:** Christie Wittenborn
- **Producer:** Gina Kwon
- **Cast:** Miranda July as Christine Jesperson; John Hawkes as Richard Swersey; Brandon Ratcliff as Robby Swersey; Miles Thompson as Peter Swersey; Carlie Westerman as Sylvie; Brad William Henke as Andrew; Natasha Slayton as Heather; Najarra Townsend as Rebecca
- **Runtime:** 1h 31m
- **First release (the US):** 20 January 2005
- **Genres:** Comedy, Drama
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t87QILBZd_I

## Where to watch in Spain

Not streaming, renting or buying in Spain at the last check.

Also available in: CA, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Sundance Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision Dramatic 2005: Sundance Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision Dramatic (won)

## If you liked this

- *The Station Agent* (2003), Fi1m 82: Another patient comedy about lonely people who do not immediately welcome company. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-station-agent.md)
- *The Lunchbox* (2013), Fi1m 75: An uncertain courtship develops through small exchanges, with loneliness given proper weight. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-lunchbox.md)
- *Local Hero* (1983), Fi1m 86: For gently peculiar encounters and a community observed with affection rather than fuss. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/local-hero.md)
- *The Green Ray* (1986): A less playful account of solitude, attentive to every awkward social encounter.
- *Kajillionaire* (2020): Another uneasy comedy in which eccentric behaviour cannot disguise a need for affection.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/me-and-you-and-everyone-we-know