We’re eating well this month, Heartstopper S2 now, RWRB. The New York Times bestseller LGBTQ+ enemies-to-lovers romance novel “Red, White & Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston surprised me in many ways with how plausible it seemed. So the movie adaptation was on my radar as soon as I heard about but I became more excited about this movie than I ever thought.

Matthew López, mainly known as a playwright and screenwriter, is directing his first feature with this film – I didn’t know that going in, and I’m going to say it now, it doesn’t show. Nicholas Galitzine, who was the prince to Camila Cabello‘s Cinderella, and who I loved in Handsome Devil, plays the British prince. Taylor Zakhar Perez, who’s a complete unknown to me since I have yet to watch The Kissing Booth movies or Minx. I might have seen him in the 2016 Cruel Intentions but I’m not even sure I saw that, anyway he plays the son of the President of the United States. the movie also stars Uma Thurman, Stephen Fry, Sarah Shahi (Black Adam, Sex/Life), Rachel Hilson (Love, Victor), and Ellie Bamber (The Serpent, Willow) also appear in supporting roles.

Premise: When the feud between the son of the American President and Britain’s prince threatens to drive a wedge in U.S./British relations, the two are forced into a staged truce that develops into a deep and complex romantic connection that challenges their personal lives and the political world around them.

Review: This movie is a true rom-com, it’s sweet, fantastical, and easy to watch. I used fantastical here because this movie adaptation is somehow more fairytale-like than the novel. The main focus is heavily on Alex and Henry’s romance. The weight of the political world around them is implied, much like the amount of effort and the array of the people in on the secret for such a relationship to even develop. This might erk some people but I see it as not treating viewers as if they were dumb rocks who couldn’t figure that out. Not everything needs to be spoon-fed.

If it wasn’t for these two leads this movie might not have worked as well as it does. They’re both charming as hell, Galitzine can speak volumes with a simple gaze, his non-verbal communication is amazing. Zakhar Perez is smooth and captivating so they make a pair than you’d expect.

RWRB manages the passage of time in a seamless but effective way. It’s quite subtle yet felt while never losing the momentum of the blooming relationship. I tweeted as much but I like the many ways they visualized their text exchanges, the graphic displays are not ground-breaking but the rest fits with the fantastical theme of the film. As syrupy sweet as this movie is it has some edge, not enough to qualify as an R-rating in my eyes.

The book could have warranted a 4 to 6-hour miniseries, where both of these characters’ worlds – family and friends included – could have been more fleshed out. As much as I appreciated that aspect of the source material, it was their romance that drew me – and I’d guess most of the readers – to McQuiston’s book. Given how beautifully shot this movie is – in particular the floating deck scene reminds me of Christopher and His Kind, – a miniseries might have been interesting to see.

RWRB is fun and romantic, not as grounded and in-depth as it could have been, but it does well what it set out to do. If you want a meatier and more grounded version of this story read the book or listen to it.

Now Streaming on Prime Video

https://videopress.com/v/iDxm1N4u?resizeToParent=1&cover=1&autoPlay=0&controls=0&loop=0&muted=0&persistVolume=1&playsinline=0&preloadContent=metadata&sbc&sbpc&sblc&useAverageColor=1

If you’re interested in my review of the source material, you can find it in the links below:

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