The Automatic Hate is a 2015 American comedy-drama film directed by Justin Lerner. It stars Joseph Cross and Adelaide Clemens as cousins who try to determine why their fathers have kept their respective families apart for decades. The film premiered at SXSW and was released in the United States on March 11, 2016. This was the last film appearance of Ricky Jay before his death in 2018.

Plot

Boston chef Davis Green experiences trouble with his girlfriend, Cassie, who asks for alone time as she cries. After he goes to a bar, a woman follows him home. Curious, he tells Cassie he is taking out the trash and investigates. The woman requests a hug and introduces herself as Alexis Green, his cousin. Davis says she must be mistaken, as his father is an only child. When Cassie sees them talking, Davis asks Alexis to leave. Though upset, she gives him her contact information before leaving. Davis sits in on his father's university lecture, a behavioral psychological class about nature versus nurture. Davis offers to cook his parents a meal, but his father, Ronald, condescendingly declines. After eating alone, Davis roots through his Dad's mementos, finding a picture that indicates his father may have a brother. His ailing grandfather becomes upset and refuses to discuss the matter when shown the picture, and his father warns him away from investigating further.