Released in December 2023, romantic film “Anyone But You” follows two young adults as they try to figure out who and what they want in life. The two main characters, Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell) face the inner struggles that come with a relationship.
Warning: Spoilers ahead
The movie begins with Bea and Ben meeting at the local coffee shop. Bea is a law student while Ben has a job in finance. Bea has to go to the restroom but at the shop, you can only use their bathroom if you buy a drink. Then, as total strangers, Ben decides to buy her a drink because he thinks that she should be able to use the restroom whenever she wants. At this point in the movie, you could tell they were going to have a connection with each other right as he offered to buy her a drink.
After she goes to the bathroom, they start to talk and introduce themselves to each other. Then they proceed to spend the rest of the day together and they grow a connection very quickly. Bea ends up hanging out with Ben all night at his house. Bea gets up right away in the morning and leaves before Ben wakes up and that makes Ben upset. Just after Bea left, she decided she shouldn’t have left so early and decided to go back. As she gets back to his house, she overhears Ben talking to a friend of his and he says that Bea was “nothing” to him. This was very depressing to see at this point in the movie because they had a great connection and just as Bea realized that she shouldn’t have left, and as she goes back, it backfires on her.
Later on, they cross each other’s paths again when Halle (Hadley Robinson), Bea’s sister, is in a serious relationship with Ben’s friend Pete’s (GaTa) sister. Pete’s sister, Claudia’s (Alexandra Shipp) relationship with Halle progresses fast to the point where they are going to get married. This is such an ironic part of the movie because they had just ended on a bad note, and now when they see each other again it gets very awkward. Halle and Claudia decide to make the wedding take place in Sydney, Australia which is where Pete and Halle’s parents live. Now, Bea and Ben are both invited to the wedding since they both have connections to the people in it. Now they are bound to have to interact since they will both be together in Sydney. At this point in the movie, the audience knows that Bea and Ben are going to have to eventually talk and interact with each other while in Sydney and it will be very awkward.
They will both have to stay at Pete’s parent’s house and along with the tension between Bea and Ben, they each have former acquaintances that will cause more problems. Bea’s parents want her to get back with her fiance, Jonathan (Darren Barnet). Bea and Jonathan had parted ways already but Bea’s parents think that he is perfect for her. Then for Ben, there is Margaret (Charlee Fraser), and she and Ben used to be together for a while, but now she is dating a new guy named Beau (Joe Davidson).
At the start of the trip, Bea and Ben have been fighting the whole time and others are thinking that they are going to ruin the wedding for everyone. Also, at this point, Bea’s parents are trying too hard for her to get back with Jonothan and she is getting annoyed by it. On the other hand, Ben still has feelings for Margaret and is jealous of Beau.
To get rid of all of their problems, Bea and Ben try to pretend that they are a couple to get Bea’s parents to stop bugging her, and so Margaret gets jealous and then wants to get with Ben. While they are pretending to be in a relationship, the pretending becomes less and the love becomes more. This movie has the perfect plot because Bea and Ben are just pretending to be in a relationship to make other people happy, but then it becomes real and they develop feelings for each other.
To conclude, I would recommend this movie to anyone who is somewhat interested in romantic and drama-filled movies. Throughout the film, you see how Bea and Ben’s relationship progresses and how they end up understanding each other. The storyline stays on pace throughout the whole movie, which eliminates any pointless parts in the plot that may be distracting. All of the drama has the audience on the edge of their seats throughout the entire movie. I was expecting less when I came into the theater, but I came out surprised with my expectations blown through the roof.
4.3/5
