She calls Maddie, who comes to pick her up and then agrees to sponsor her, so long as she goes 30 consecutive days sober from sex and romance. As Joy struggles to get sober, she follows Maddie's suggestion of adopting a hobby and finds herself taking over the drum kit in the garage that belongs to Maddie's awkward brother, Jim. As the two of them create music together, a secret friendship grows. "Unlovable" had a theatrical release beginning November 1, 2018, and was launched on Video on Demand and digitally on November 2, 2018. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 81% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 7.75/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". IndieWire gave the film a B+ rating, stating that: "It's a fluffy spin on the recovery genre, but it's a fresh one, and deGuzman's hard-won life experience adds veracity and honesty to the snappy narrative." In its review of the film, Film Journal International considered that: "Duplass, deGuzman and director Suzi Yoonessi have packaged a slight but sure winner." In their review of the film, the LA Times stated: "Here, director Suzi Yoonessi and co-writer/star Charlene deGuzman gift audiences with an oddball protagonist who is a real human being, and not the one-note manic pixie dream girl that plagues lesser indies."