Let's Get Ready for Romance: Love Life & Love Hard

It's November. The weather's getting chilly, the holidays are fast approaching. It's time to snuggle up with some stories about people falling in love! If you want something insightful about modern romance and the turbulent journey towards finding "the one," I've got you covered. If you want a silly, predictable, and thoroughly delightful Christmas romcom? I've also got you covered.

Love Hard: When the preview for this movie popped up on my Netflix account, I watched ten seconds and could already predict everything that was going to happen. And I immediately knew that didn't matter and I was going to watch the shit out of this film. Which I proceeded to do, and I enjoyed every minute. I regret nothing.

This is a classic tale of a woman named Natalie (Nina Dobrev) who has had terrible luck on dates but then connects with a man named Josh on a dating app. She lives in LA, he lives all the way across the country in Lake Placid, NY, but she is texting this guy all the time, talking to him on the phone constantly, and then finally, she decides to take a leap of faith and show up at his doorstep right before Christmas so they can spend the holidays together. Well, when she shows up, it turns out he catfished her, and looks nothing like the hunky Asian in his profile pic, but is more of a regular-looking Asian (Jimmy O. Yang). So that relationship is not going to work, but she discovers that Josh used the photos of a very real man who lives in his town, a guy named Tag (Darren Barnet). Josh has known Tag since childhood, so he agrees to help Natalie woo Tag, in exchange for her pretending to his family that she really is his girlfriend for the holidays. What could go wrong?!

That plot is basically a collection of twenty romcom storylines in one go. And as you watch this movie, you'll spot loving homages to all the traditional holiday romcom tropes, including a whole scene dedicated to Love Actually and an argument about whether or not Die Hard can be classified as a Christmas movie. It's so silly but these actors are so game and charming and you can't help but be swept away in the silly sparkle of it all. You know exactly how this whole thing will turn out, but watching all the zany escapades on the road to happily ever after is a joy. And as with any Netflix production, the soundtrack is an absolute banger. In fact, the final scene featured a gorgeous song that I had never heard before but am now obsessed with, and for that reason alone, I love this movie. Hard.

Love Life: This is an anthology show about modern-day New Yorkers and the relationships they have before they finally find their "person." The first season starred Anna Kendrick as Darby Carter, while the second season stars William Jackson Harper as Marcus Watkins. I actually started watching Season 2 first, but then binged Season 1 before I finally finished the second season. Which is a very convoluted way of doing things, but I had my reasons. However, I recommend you just watch this show in order because, while Darby is not a central figure in Season 2 at all, she does occasionally have some cameos, and it's helpful to know at what stage of her life she is in as she intersects with Marcus in his journey. 

Each episode of the show focuses on a different relationship the protagonist has with another person. Most often, these are romantic relationships, and you will follow along as these people go through messy break-ups, one-night stands, meaningful long-term relationships, and lots of meaningless hookups. But some of the episodes are also about the relationships Darby or Marcus have with their friends or their family. And ultimately, this is a show about how you can't just expect the people in your life to give you everything you want without first working on yourself. 

This is a fantastic show, but if you find yourself uninterested after watching the first season, please just start watching the second season, because it gets even more profound and meaningful. Episode 9, in particular, deals with the pandemic and the unsettling loneliness that people experienced during that time. There has been a lot of storytelling about 2020 lately, but this half-hour episode of a romantic TV show perfectly encapsulated the entirety of the pandemic, from the initial paranoia and constant sanitizing, to the eerily empty streets of New York, to the social etiquette of fist bumps, masks, and social distancing, and the constant chatter about whether we're ever getting a vaccine. This is such a clever show about love and relationships and complicated interpersonal dynamics and finding yourself before you find a partner, but this one episode also served as a perfect time capsule of human experience at this fraught moment in history. 

Created by Sam Boyd, and written and directed by a slew of talented people, give this show a try. Yes, it's a mostly heteronormative and traditional view on romance. But I can guarantee there will be multiple episodes that deeply resonate with your psyche, and I also promise, you will get a happy ending, even if there are a lot of bumps along the way.