Everybody loves a good romantic comedy movie with a captivating “enemies to lovers” trope, and that’s exactly what Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell brought us in “Anyone But You.”
In December 2023, movie theaters debuted the film and gave watchers a newfound appreciation for “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield, which was the movie’s staple song.
The movie follows all the rules of a good “enemies to lovers” trope. They start off with a classic introduction between the two main characters, Bea, a law student who doesn’t really know if she wants to be a lawyer, and Ben, an egotistical player who can’t swim.
Their intense passion they had at first sight quickly turns into hatred, and they don’t speak after the first night they spent together. Then, like any good romantic comedy, they’re put into a situation where they must be in close proximity for the rest of the movie. In this case, the situation was that Bea’s sister was marrying Ben’s best friend, in Sydney, Australia.
Between fires being put out with dresses, clothing swaps and obsessions with koalas, the tensions between Bea and Ben rise and everyone notices that they’re going to ruin the wedding. They come up with a master plan to make the weekend go smoothly, and they decide to pretend they are dating– because they definitely won’t end up catching feelings for each other by the end of the movie, right?
From almost getting eaten by sharks in the Sydney waters to Bea helping Ben get over his fear of flying by singing him “Unwritten,” their relationship doesn’t seem so pretentious anymore.
This movie has multiple aspects that put it close to the top of my romantic comedy list. Two amazing starring actors who portray these parts incredibly, and an amazing set of scenery on the beautiful beaches of Sydney, Australia.
While the “enemies to lovers” trope is predictable from the beginning of the movie, the action and comedy in between makes the ending wholesome. It leaves the audience with higher standards, wishing their significant other would jump out of a moving train for them, or jump in the water and have a helicopter drop them off at the Sydney Opera House, either one would be fine.
Audiences are walking away from this film with their standards for love raised.
