Movie Review – ‘Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass’ brings zany, silly fun to the big screen

Don’t sleep on Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, the funniest film released so far in 2026. With all the makings of a future cult classic, it feels like the perfect companion piece to another oddly-named comedy, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. Does that mean you have to be stoned to enjoy this movie? Not at all. Will it help? I’m sure. NOTE: I’ve never smoked pot, but I imagine this film would only get funnier. NOTE 2: don’t do drugs.

An odd ode to The Wizard of Oz, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass follows Gail (Zoey Deutch) as she sets out on a cross-country adventure to have sex with Jon Hamm. Wait, what?! Yup.

Life is peachy keen for Kansas-born hairdresser Gail, who’s engaged to marry her high school boyfriend Tom (Michael Cassidy) — cheerleader and star QB, naturally — until Tom acts on their agreed-upon celebrity sex pass. Not familiar with the celebrity sex pass? It’s exactly what it sounds like: the one person a spouse is allowed to sleep with, no questions asked, if the opportunity ever arises. Well, after Tom does the deed, Gail’s best friend and fellow hairdresser Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) convinces her to head to L.A. with him and track down one of 2008’s sexiest men alive, Jon Hamm. As Otto and Gail canvass La La Land in search of Hamm, they pick up some unexpected allies in tabloid photographer Vince (Ken Marino), junior agent Caleb (Ben Wang), and Hamm’s former Mad Men castmate, John Slattery. For anyone keeping track of the Wizard of Oz parallels, they serve as the heart, the brains, and the courage. But just like Dorothy’s attempt to get home, not everything goes according to plan — especially once Gail grabs the wrong luggage and finds herself the target of vicious villain Ludovica (White Lotus‘s Sabrina Impacciatore). Sound ludicrous? It is. Sound stupid? You betcha. But will you laugh your ass off? A hundred percent.

It’s the summer of Deutch, with the young actress starring in not one, not two, but three films in the span of a month. First came the buzzy new Netflix film Voicemails for Isabelle, then a turn in the animated Minions & Monsters, and now this, in director David Wain’s latest. Deutch, who’s still too often reduced to a footnote next to her equally funny mother Lea Thompson (Back to the Future and a host of other classic ’80s films), keeps proving she’s no nepo baby — she’s a genuinely skilled actress who can jump from a zany romp like Gail Daughtry to a courtroom drama like Juror #2 or a thriller like Anniversary and nail every one.

Wain may not be a household name, but he’s responsible for another cult classic — Wet Hot American Summer, a 2001 comedy following a group of camp counselors on their last day of summer. It premiered in a handful of cities and got torn apart by critics at the time, but it’s since found a devoted following and even spawned a prequel and a sequel. Years later, Wain directed the underappreciated Role Models, starring a young Paul Rudd — and his first writing collaboration with close friend and former The State co-star who joins him again in writing this wild adventure.

At one point, a character blurts out, “What the fuck is happening?” You’ll probably be asking yourself the same thing more than once over this tight 93-minute runtime — but I promise you’ll have a hell of a time getting there.

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is stacked with cameos that add an extra zhuzh and fans — especially longtime Wain fans — will get a kick out of seeing the friendships he’s built over decades in Hollywood pay off on screen.