I Used to Go Here Parent Guide

Kate (Gillian Jacobs) is at loose ends. She’s written her first novel – but sales are low and her publisher has cancelled her book tour. She got engaged – but her fiancé broke up with her and moved out. Her best friends are all pregnant – and Kate has to go to their baby showers. Feeling adrift, she is thrilled when one of her university professors calls with an invitation to her alma mater for a reading. Desperate for some affirmation, Kate agrees and packs her bags.

Kate’s return to campus doesn’t quite go as expected. Professor Fitzpatrick (Jemaine Clement) seems overly excited to see her again; his wife (Kristina Valada-Viars) much less so. The B&B landlady (Cindy Gold) is rigid and inflexible and when Kate loses her key, she finds herself locked out. Luckily, she used to live in the house across the street, and the male students who live there are friendly. In fact, they’re so welcoming that Kate winds up attending their parties, swimming with them in the lake, sharing her personal heartache, helping one of the boys track down his cheating girlfriend, and having sex with the student who now lives in her old bedroom. Basically, Kate loses the decade-plus of maturity she supposedly acquired since graduation and embraces youthful fecklessness.

I Used to Go Here is marketed as a quirky comedy but it’s really an embarrassing cringe-fest. It’s troubling to observe a thirty-something woman who’s so emotionally needy that she gets entangled with a group of undergraduates. Watching Kate and the students break into someone’s home to confirm their suspicions about a cheating girlfriend is so horrendously squirm-inducing that only reason I stayed in my seat is that it’s my job.

If the housebreaking episode were the worst of the movie, it might be watchable, but sadly, there’s more. I Used to Go Here is full of moments that made me flinch, including a particularly awful conversation where a man tells Kate that he used to think of her when he masturbated. Also uncomfortable are scenes where a student’s mom kisses one of his roommates, and a non-explicit but obvious sexual encounter between Kate and a student. Add in over 50 profanities and frequent scenes of drug and alcohol use, and this unrated film clearly clocks in at a Restricted rating.

There are a few positive elements to the movie. The college students in the story are remarkably kind, helpful, accepting, and empathetic. And Gillian Jacobs offers a strong performance as Kate – even if she makes me think of a bargain basement version of Anne Hathaway. But none of these pluses are enough for me to recommend this flick for a fun movie night. (And I’m not just saying this because Professor Fitzpatrick describes critics as “the worst kind of human”. Honest, I’m not.)