It seems to have been a long time between cocktails since a rom-com has hit the silver screen. But in up and coming, pop culture sizzling stars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell (genius casting for a number of reasons) we have a big, bold rom-com which has several callbacks to the kinda romantic comedies we used to see in movie theatres before they were all sent to streaming services instead. While Anyone But You has some pretty familiar beats to it, you can’t help but fall head over heels for this breezy, charming rom-com, with smouldering chemistry between Sweeney and Powell.

In the edgy comedy Anyone But You, Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell) look like the perfect couple, but after an amazing first date something happens that turns their fiery hot attraction ice cold - until they find themselves unexpectedly thrust together at a destination wedding in Australia. So they do what any two mature adults would do: pretend to be a couple.

 

While the first act is perfectly likeable, the premise of Bea and Ben’s hatred towards each other, didn’t really ring that true. It just seemed a little extreme. So as I nestled deeper into my comfy cinema lazyboy, preparing to just cruise through the last media screening of the year, it hooked me. 

 

By the time they’re hitting the shores of Australia, Anyone But You manages to capture some cinematic magic that just reels you in. Perhaps it was the familiarity of the Sydney landscape, the dynamics and people that you can so clearly recognize from their family in your own. It just all works so well.

 

And at the very heart of it is Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell. Their chemistry is electric, bouncing effortlessly off one another, especially as they banter and bicker. But even in the more loved up, sweeter moments, you truly believe that they are falling for one another. They manage to capture a real, hopeful vulnerability. 

 

There’s comedy galore here too and Anyone But You is at its most hilarious when it resorts to slapstick, physical comedy. From wayward fireworks to spider infestations to a rescue from Sydney harbour, Anyone But You will have you chuckling away throughout. 

 

While Anyone But You has some pretty familiar beats to it, you can’t help but fall head over heels for this breezy, charming ro-com, with smouldering chemistry between Sweeney and Powell.