Anyone But You, A Review

They only look like the perfect couple.

Anyone But You follows law student Bea (Sydney Sweeney, The White Lotus) whose run-in with investment guy Ben (Glen Powelll, Set it Up) leaves her bitter after she overhears him badmouthing her after a seemingly perfect date night. The pair then goes their regretful separate ways but are then reunited when Bea’s Sister Halle (Hadley Robinson) becomes engaged to Ben’s friend Claudia (Alexandra Shipp, Love Simon) and both are asked to be a part of the wedding.

Bea and Ben’s constant arguing however makes things awkward for both families, especially when Bea’s parents invite her ex Jonathan (Darren Barnet, Never Have I Ever) who they want her back together with. In an attempt to keep the peace Bea suggests she and Ben pretend they are in a relationship, hoping to make Ben’s ex jealous and keep Jonathan off her back in the process. The pair then begin acting all lovey-dovey, masquerading as the perfect couple. Underneath however real feelings begin to grow and things get complicated, especially with the pair’s shared history. Can Bea and Ben find a middle ground and be happy together or will their messy past ruin the wedding and make things awkward for all involved all over again?

The romantic comedy genre isn’t one I’m automatically drawn to and often it’s a real hit or miss for me, especially the straight ones. With Anyone But You however this was the first romcom in a long time that I actively wanted to see from just the trailer alone and I think the film very much emulates the mid 2000s style where the genre was at its peak. The premise of the film mixed with the Shakespearean source material (which was also mad popular in the 2000s) made for a really enjoyable watch and I think unlike a lot of more modern romcoms it was just vibes and didn’t take itself too seriously.

Anyone But You perfectly tapped into the fanfiction esque area of the romcom genre, utilising the enemies to lovers and fake dating topes in such a perfect way. Like I said above the film felt very mid 2000s romcom era and I just had a great time watching. A lot of romcoms these days, especially the more modern ones, don’t hit like they used to and this really felt like a resurgence of the genre. Sweeney and Powell both gave immensely impressive performances here and the chemistry between them was just insane (I actually remember there being rumours the pair were dating in real life, not sure how true this is?). The credibility between two leads can really make or break a romcom in even the best of situations and I just loved the constant banter between the pair interspaced with some real emotion moments of connection. Like I said above the enemies to lovers trope was used wonderfully here and it’s definitely one of my favourite plot points to date.

Overall I really loved this film and it’s definitely one of the better romcoms of the last few years. I loved the fake dating premise, Shakespearean source material and of course the mad chemistry between Sweeney and Powell. Anyone But You very much calls back to the 2000s romcom boom and something about the story just hit in the exact right place. This was such a fun watch overall and it definitely made me fall in love with romcoms again.