{ "id": "ept0c9vrwe", "slug": "what-if-2013-film", "title": "What If (2013 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": 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"https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.other.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.other.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.other.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.other.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.other.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" } ] } ], "excerpt": "What If, released as The F Word in Canada, is a 2013 Michael Dowse romantic comedy starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan as friends resisting attraction; adapted by Elan Mastai from Toothpaste and Cigars, it premiered at TIFF 2013 and won a Canadian Screen Award. Distinct from Hari Mahesh's 2013 drama of the same name.", "snippet": "What If, released as The F Word in Canada, is a 2013 Michael Dowse romantic comedy starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan as friends resisting attraction; adapted by Elan Mastai from Toothpaste and Cigars, it premiered at TIFF 2013 and won a Canadian Screen Award. Distinct from Hari Mahesh's 2013 drama of the same name.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014.romantic-and-coming-of-age-drama-films", "markdown": "# What If (2013 film)\n\n**What If** is a 2013 romantic comedy directed by Michael Dowse, released in some markets under its original title **The F Word**, in which a medical-school dropout named Wallace ([Daniel Radcliffe](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-radcliffe)) falls for an animator, Chantry ([Zoe Kazan](https://www.edgepedia.org/zoe-kazan)), who already lives with her longtime boyfriend, and the two try to remain platonic friends.[1](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film746797.html) • [2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/whatif) The film is a Canadian-Irish-American co-production, shot in Toronto and Dublin, and it premiered at the [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival) in September 2013.[3](https://www.tribute.ca/tiff/index.php/2013/09/11/cbs-films-acquires-f-word/amp/) • [4](https://www.screenireland.ie/images/uploads/general/Production_Catalogue_final_with_cover.pdf)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title | *The F Word*, where the \"F word\" in question is \"friendship\"[5](https://canfilmday.ca/film/the-f-word/) |\n| Director and writer | Michael Dowse; screenplay by Elan Mastai, from the play *Toothpaste and Cigars* by T.J. Dawe and Michael Rinaldi[1](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film746797.html) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486834/fullcredits/) |\n| Lead cast | Daniel Radcliffe (Wallace), Zoe Kazan (Chantry), Rafe Spall (Ben), Adam Driver (Allan), Megan Park (Dalia)[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486834/fullcredits/) |\n| Premiere and rights | World premiere at TIFF 2013; CBS Films took U.S. rights, Entertainment One distributed in Canada and the U.K.[3](https://www.tribute.ca/tiff/index.php/2013/09/11/cbs-films-acquires-f-word/amp/) |\n| Runtime and rating | 98 minutes; PG-13 in the United States[7](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-f-word) |\n| Critical scores | 73% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (130 reviews); Metascore 59 from 36 reviews; 6.8/10 on IMDb (about 85,000 votes)[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/what_if_2014) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486834/criticreviews/) • [7](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-f-word) |\n| Box office | $8.5 million worldwide against an $11.0 million budget[10](https://helposter.com/movie/212716-212716-what-if) |\n| Award | Canadian Screen Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, one of five nominations the film received there[1](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film746797.html) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot and premise\n\nAfter one failed romance after another, Wallace decides to shelve his search for love, even as those surrounding him, among them his roommate Allan ([Adam Driver](https://www.edgepedia.org/adam-driver)), all appear to be pairing off. At a party he meets Chantry, an animator who lives with her boyfriend Ben ([Rafe Spall](https://www.edgepedia.org/rafe-spall)). The two form an instant connection and strike up a close friendship, while the chemistry between them raises the question the title poses: what if the love of your life is actually your best friend?[2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/whatif)\n\nThe film's central tension is that both characters behave decently. Chantry's relationship with Ben is not portrayed as a typical rom-com \"wrong guy\" situation; as Radcliffe put it in an interview, there is nothing in her relationship she can point to that has gone awry, yet she meets Wallace and feels that connection. Wallace, falling for Chantry, keeps his feelings to himself, and the two navigate what the actor called a moral gray area rather than resorting to affairs or breakups.[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2014/08/08/in-what-if-daniel-radcliffe-jumps-into-friendships-gray-area/) Reviewers placed the film in the friends-to-lovers tradition of *When Harry Met Sally*, asking whether men and women can be friends without romantic feelings entering the picture.[12](https://theromcomcatalog.com/what-if-2013/)\n\n## Production\n\nScreenwriter Elan Mastai adapted the play *Toothpaste and Cigars* by T.J. Dawe and Michael Rinaldi; the script was a 2007 Black List member and, by Mastai's account, the first script he wrote that conveyed his own point of view, written after about seven years and fifteen earlier scripts.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486834/fullcredits/) • [13](https://scriptshadow.net/scriptshadow-interview-elan-mastai-writer-of-the-f-word-2/) The project had been set up at Fox Searchlight before Michael Dowse, coming off his hockey comedy *[Goon](https://www.edgepedia.org/goon-film)*, took it on and helped bring the production to Canada.[14](https://www.screendaily.com/interviews/michael-dowse-the-f-word/5059916.article)\n\nThe film was produced by No Trace Camping, Sheep Noir Films, and Caramel Film, with financing from the Irish Film Board, eOne, Telefilm, OMDC, and SODEC. [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) took place in Toronto, with Dublin used as an Irish location, and the delivered cut ran 90 minutes before final trims.[4](https://www.screenireland.ie/images/uploads/general/Production_Catalogue_final_with_cover.pdf) • [3](https://www.tribute.ca/tiff/index.php/2013/09/11/cbs-films-acquires-f-word/amp/) Rogier Stoffers was the cinematographer and AC Newman of The New Pornographers wrote the music.[4](https://www.screenireland.ie/images/uploads/general/Production_Catalogue_final_with_cover.pdf) • [1](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film746797.html)\n\nAt the 2013 festival, CBS Films acquired the U.S. rights, with co-president Wolfgang Hammer describing the film as \"a romantic comedy for a new generation that calls to mind classics like *Say Anything* and *When Harry Met Sally*.\" Entertainment One, which co-financed the film, handled distribution in Canada and the U.K.[3](https://www.tribute.ca/tiff/index.php/2013/09/11/cbs-films-acquires-f-word/amp/)\n\n## Reception\n\nCritics responded to the leads' chemistry and the script's self-awareness. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 73% Tomatometer from 130 reviews, with the site's critics consensus crediting its sharp dialogue and the \"effervescent chemistry\" of Radcliffe and Kazan for transcending a familiar narrative framework; the audience Popcornmeter stands at 69% from more than 25,000 ratings.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/what_if_2014) The Metacritic score is 59, based on 36 reviews.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486834/criticreviews/)\n\nIndividual reviews were largely positive. Justin Chang of Variety called it a smart, self-aware riff on romantic-comedy conventions that maintains a core of earnest feeling, roughly \"three parts charming to one part cloying.\"[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486834/criticreviews/) Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave it three and a half stars out of four, writing that it has \"charm to spare\" and that Radcliffe and Kazan are irresistible.[1](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film746797.html) Scott Tobias of The Dissolve argued that at a time when the romantic comedy was an endangered species, the film proved the formulas could still work without much tweaking.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486834/criticreviews/) Filmaffinity users rank it #106 among the best Canadian films of all time.[1](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film746797.html)\n\nCommercially, the film earned about $8.5 million worldwide against an $11.0 million budget, recovering roughly 77% of its production cost in theaters.[10](https://helposter.com/movie/212716-212716-what-if) It won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.[5](https://canfilmday.ca/film/the-f-word/) Telefilm Canada later cited it among recent successful Canadian-Irish co-productions, alongside *Brooklyn*, *Room*, and *The Breadwinner*.[15](https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/telefilmcanada/CC370-2016-eng.pdf)\n\n## Title and availability\n\nThe film circulated under two titles: *The F Word* in Canada and at its premiere, and *What If* in most international release, including the United States, where [Sony Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures) handled home video.[1](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film746797.html) • [2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/whatif) It is not currently on Netflix in the United Kingdom, and in the United States it streams free with ads on [Pluto TV](https://www.edgepedia.org/pluto-tv), Kanopy, and Hoopla, and can be rented or bought on Amazon Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home.[16](https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/70266681) • [7](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-f-word)\n\nA different 2013 film also titled *What If* exists: an American drama directed by Hari Mahesh about a psychiatrist, Ed Baxter, who develops schizophrenia, with a runtime of about 80 to 90 minutes and a streaming release in 2016.[17](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/what_if) The two films are unrelated, and streaming listings for the name sometimes conflate them.\n\n## References\n\n1. [What If (The F Word) (2013), Filmaffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film746797.html)\n2. [WHAT IF, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/whatif)\n3. [CBS Films acquires The F Word, TIFF via Tribute.ca](https://www.tribute.ca/tiff/index.php/2013/09/11/cbs-films-acquires-f-word/amp/)\n4. [The F Word production listing, Screen Ireland](https://www.screenireland.ie/images/uploads/general/Production_Catalogue_final_with_cover.pdf)\n5. [The F Word, National Canadian Film Day (REEL Canada)](https://canfilmday.ca/film/the-f-word/)\n6. [What If (2013) full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486834/fullcredits/)\n7. [What If (2013) streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-f-word)\n8. [What If, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/what_if_2014)\n9. [What If (2013) Metacritic reviews via IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486834/criticreviews/)\n10. [What If (2013) box office and streaming guide, Helposter](https://helposter.com/movie/212716-212716-what-if)\n11. [In 'What If,' Daniel Radcliffe jumps into friendship's gray area, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2014/08/08/in-what-if-daniel-radcliffe-jumps-into-friendships-gray-area/)\n12. ['What If' (2013) Review, The Rom Com Catalog](https://theromcomcatalog.com/what-if-2013/)\n13. [Scriptshadow Interview: Elan Mastai, writer of The F Word](https://scriptshadow.net/scriptshadow-interview-elan-mastai-writer-of-the-f-word-2/)\n14. [Michael Dowse, The F Word, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/interviews/michael-dowse-the-f-word/5059916.article)\n15. [Telefilm Canada 2015-2016 Annual Report](https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/telefilmcanada/CC370-2016-eng.pdf)\n16. [What If, Netflix (United Kingdom)](https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/70266681)\n17. [What If (2013), Rotten Tomatoes (Hari Mahesh drama)](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/what_if)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2010 to 2014 › Romantic and coming-of-age drama films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/what-if-2013-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/what-if-2013-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"What If (2013 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/what-if-2013-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[What If (2013 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/what-if-2013-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/what-if-2013-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/what-if-2013-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"What If (2013 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/what-if-2013-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "What If, released as The F Word in Canada, is a 2013 Michael Dowse romantic comedy starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan as friends resisting attraction; adapted by Elan Mastai from Toothpaste and Cigars, it premiered at TIFF 2013 and won a Canadian Screen Award." }