Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass

A very stupid idea taken very seriously.

That’s the engine behind Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, the new film from David Wain — and the premise is exactly as ridiculous as the title promises.

Gail, a Midwestern bride-to-be, has a “free celebrity pass” arrangement with her fiancé. Then he actually uses his. Heartbroken and furious, Gail flies to Los Angeles to even the score with her own pass: Jon Hamm.

From there it’s a full-blown Hollywood comedy — love, jealousy, bad decisions, psychic advice, celebrity culture, and the sheer chaos of committing to a bad idea all the way through. Wain has stacked the cast with a who’s-who of gifted comic actors: Zoey Deutch leads as Gail, alongside Jon Hamm and John Slattery.

What makes the film feel rare isn’t the premise. It’s the commitment: an original American independent comedy that isn’t apologizing for being a unicorn — a movie built, first and foremost, to be funny.

Join us for a conversation with David Wain about comedy for comedy’s sake, shooting on location in L.A., and why the dumbest idea in the room is sometimes the only one worth chasing.

In the charming town of Willowbrook, Kansas, hairdresser Gail Daughtry is engaged to her devoted high school sweetheart, Tom. Her life takes a turn when a trip to a book signing leads to Tom meeting – and sleeping – with his “celebrity pass.” Reeling from the betrayal, Gail impulsively joins her friend Otto on a trip to Los Angeles, where a psychic convinces Gail that the only way to save her marriage is to “even the scales” with her own celebrity pass: Jon Hamm. Thus begins an epic journey through Tinseltown as Gail and Otto join forces with a talent agency assistant, a paparazzo, and actor John Slattery, all in the search for Hamm. Along the way, they collide with celebrities and are hunted by a group of Italian assassins as they get ever closer to finding the elusive star.