Plot

A woman struggling with insecurity wakes from a fall believing she is the most beautiful and capable woman on the planet. Her new confidence empowers her to live fearlessly, but what happens when she realizes her appearance never changed?

In I FEEL PRETTY a woman who struggles with feelings of deep insecurity and low self-esteem, that hold her back everyday, wakes from a brutal fall in an exercise class believing she is suddenly a supermodel. With this newfound confidence she is empowered to live her life fearlessly and flawlessly, but what will happen when she realizes her appearance never changed?—STXfilms

Renee Bennett is a young woman who struggles with low self-esteem and insecurities over her appearance. Out of a Chinatown basement office, she manages the website for cosmetics firm Lily LeClaire with co-worker Mason, while aspiring to work in their Fifth Avenue headquarters. When a vacancy for a receptionist comes up at HQ, she decides not to apply after reading the job description's emphasis on being the beautiful "face" of LeClaire. One night, inspired by the movie Big, Renee wishes at a fountain to be beautiful, but nothing happens. The next day, Renee falls off her SoulCycle bike during an exercise class, hitting her head and losing consciousness. When she wakes, she has not changed physically, but she believes herself to be astonishingly beautiful..

Renee Bennett (Amy Schumer) is a young woman of average physical attractiveness and fitness, who struggles with insecurity over her appearance. Renee is enrolled at SoulCycle for her daily fitness regime. Renee's classmate at SoulCycle is the sexy Mallory. Everywhere she goes, Renee is reminded that she is a big girl, who doesn't really conform to the modern beauty standards. Even little babies start crying when they see her.

Out of a Chinatown basement office, she manages the website for cosmetics firm Lilly LeClaire while aspiring to work in their Fifth Avenue headquarters. Mason (Adrian Martinez) is Renee's coworker. Renee's best friends are Jane (Busy Philipps) and Vivian (Aidy Bryant). When the server goes down at the basement, Mason and Renee are not able to email their daily website traffic reports to corporate at 11 am. As such, Renee has to take the printed reports and deliver them to the corporate office by hand. This is terrifying for Renee as she doesn't shower for work and has a Bed, Bath and Beyond bag for a purse. Renee finds from the intern that the HQ is looking for a new full-time receptionist to man the front desk. But she declines to apply for a receptionist position there after reading the job description's emphasis on being the beautiful "face" of LeClaire. Renee wishes that for once in her life she is unbelievably pretty.

One night, inspired by the movie, Big, Renee wishes at a fountain to be beautiful, but nothing happens. The next day, Renee falls off her SoulCycle bike, hitting her head, and losing consciousness. When she wakes, she has not changed physically, but she believes herself to be astonishingly beautiful.

Renee approaches the world with newfound confidence. When a man named Ethan (Rory Scovel) speaks to her innocuously at the dry cleaner, she assumes that he is hitting on her, and insists that they exchange numbers. Renee applies for the receptionist position; impressed by Renee's attitude and idealistic admiration for the brand, CEO Avery LeClaire (Michelle Williams) hires her.

Avery is a bit of a prissy b***h who thinks too lowly of anything "cheap" and for the masses. Avery's grandmother Lilly doesn't feel this way and believes that the affordable line makes fashion accessible to the masses. Avery believes mass produced products are "low end". Lilly wants Avery to launch a line of accessible products for Target, which is termed as the diffusion line. Renee quickly excels, impressing Avery's brother, Grant (Tom Hopper) (US's most eligible bachelor).

Renee asks Ethan (who works in operations at CNN) out, and on their date, she participates in a "bikini body" contest against women with idealized figures. She wins over the crowd, but loses the competition, and tells Ethan that she doesn't need external validation to know she's beautiful. Ethan praises her self-knowledge, and she appreciates his openness over not yet knowing himself. She brings him to her apartment, and they have sex.

At LeClaire, Renee earns her coworkers' respect with her insight into the company's new diffusion line when she explains how the creative team's luxury sensibilities don't resonate with the new clientele of Target shoppers. She explains how their clientele for blush would expect a brush to be supplied as part of the packaging. Renee also explains that the salesgirls are a deterrent, as the perfect looking models deter the normal looking girls by making feel bad about themselves. This is also why the regular girls go to the anonymous aisles in supermarkets to buy their makeup. Avery admits to Renee that she is insecure over her questionable voice. Avery invites Renee and Ethan to a dinner meeting with Grant, and company founder Lilly LeClaire (Lauren Hutton), Avery and Grant's grandmother. Renee quickly builds a rapport with Lilly; to curry favor with Lilly, Avery invites Renee to an important business meeting in Boston with the Target team to pitch the Diffusion line.

Renee becomes less respectful of LeClaire visitors, who aren't fashionable or glamorous. She alienates her best friends, Vivian (Aidy Bryant) and Jane (Busy Philipps), by ditching them to attend an exclusive party with her coworkers, and by dismissing their attempts at conversation during a group date in an effort to make them seem sexier. She storms out after they criticize her. In Boston, she nearly gives into Grant's romantic overtures, but avoids a near kiss when she receives a message from Ethan. She locks herself in the hotel bathroom. Questioning her sense of self, she suffers a new head injury in a fall in the shower. When she awakens, she perceives her real physical appearance.

Devastated and believing a magical transformation has been reversed, she immediately returns to New York alone. She isolates herself in her apartment, avoiding Ethan and Avery's calls, binge drinking, and eating junk food. Drunk and miserable, she turns up at her friends' apartment and apologizes for her behavior. Vivian and Jane reject Renee's apology. Assuming that Ethan will no longer be attracted to her, she breaks up with him over the phone, moments after speaking to him in person while believing he does not recognize her. Ethan is brokenhearted and confused. Renee tries to recreate her original injury at SoulCycle but completes the workout without incident.

She encounters her beautiful acquaintance, Mallory (Emily Ratajkowski), devastated in the locker room over being dumped. She tells Renee that she suffers from low self-esteem, and feels like people assume any beautiful woman is unintelligent.

When Renee hears that Mallory is auditioning to model for the LeClaire diffusion line, she realizes that LeClaire is again out of touch with everyday women. She crashes the product launch and, in the course of displaying her own before-and-after photos, realizes that she was never transformed. She gives an impassioned speech about women accepting themselves as they are. She presents a collage of diverse women, featuring Vivian and Jane, who appreciate the gesture.

Grant and Lilly praise Avery for having the acumen to hire Renee; together, they are key to the success of the new line of products. Renee goes to Ethan's apartment and apologizes, explaining that her insecurities were related to her feelings about herself and not to her feelings for him. Ethan tells her that she has always been the most beautiful woman in the world in his eyes, and they reconcile, confident and happy.