American romantic drama film by Spike Jonze
Her is a 2013 American science fiction romantic drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Spike Jonze. It follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an artificially intelligent operating system personified through a female voice. The film also stars Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, and Chris Pratt. The film was dedicated to James Gandolfini, Harris Savides, Maurice Sendak, and Adam Yauch, who all died before the film's release. As of 2026, Her is the most recent narrative film directed by Jonze.
The events of the movie take place in an unspecified near future, in a world where progress makes life comfortable, but leaves space for a profound loneliness. Jonze conceived the idea in the early 2000s after reading an article about a website that allowed for instant messaging with an artificial intelligence program. After making I'm Here (2010), a short film sharing similar themes, Jonze returned to the idea. He wrote the first draft of the script in five months, marking his solo screenwriting debut. Principal photography took place in Los Angeles and Shanghai in mid-2012. The voice of Samantha was recast in post-production, with Samantha Morton being replaced with Johansson. Additional scenes were filmed in August 2013 following the casting change.
Her premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 12, 2013. Following a limited six-theater release that December, Warner Bros. Pictures wide released Her in over 1,700 theaters in the United States and Canada on January 10, 2014. Her received critical acclaim, particularly for the performances of Phoenix and Johansson, and Jonze's writing and direction. It grossed over $48 million worldwide on a production budget of $23 million.
The film received numerous awards and nominations, primarily for Jonze's screenplay. At the 86th Academy Awards, Her received five nominations, including Best Picture, and won for Best Original Screenplay. Jonze also won awards for his screenplay at the Golden Globes, the WGA Awards, the Critics' Choice Awards, and the Saturn Awards. In a 2016 BBC poll of 177 critics around the world, Her was voted the 84th-greatest film since 2000. Since its release, Her has developed a cult following. It is now considered to be one of the best films of the 21st century and one of the best science fiction films of all time.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.