‘Tis the season for blaring Mariah Carey, gorging yourself on gammon and watching countless Christmas movies.
The festive season is genuinely my favourite time of year, and there’s nothing that gets me into the Christmas mood more than grabbing a giant bucket of popcorn and watching a good ‘ol festive film, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Lynn Cupido.
Netflix has been churning out the Christmas content, and let’s be honest, not all of it is great. I mean, did we really need a third Princess Switch? So, to help you wade through the good, the bad, and the ugly, here’s a quick review of the streaming platform’s latest addition: Love Hard.
Love Hard won’t be winning awards anytime soon, but if you’re looking for something that doesn’t require you to think too hard for 105 minutes, then this may just do the trick. What I did appreciate about this film was its peek into online dating. Natalie Bauer, played by Nina Dobrev, is a Los Angeles-based columnist who is the quintessential single millennial woman asking the big question: “Will I die alone?”
Having spent a good portion of her dating life swiping right and left, she finally finds someone that she thinks she has a connection with. Deciding to take a leap of faith, she flies out to New York to meet her Prince Charming. Shenanigans ensue as Natalie finds out that her gorgeous potential online hottie has been catfishing her – a rocky start to a great romance.
Unfortunately, the premise for this film felt stale and overused. It could just be my online dating PTSD talking, but it did not give me the Christmas feels. Instead, it left me feeling awkward as I cringed through some of the obvious “fall in love” tropes. By minute 10, it was very obvious how the movie would end without having to skip ahead (actually, the trailer gave it away).
SPOILER ALERT: This is “a holiday catfish story masquerading as a romance.” That’s it. That’s the entire film.
I will give the writers a half-hearted finger applause though. They did attempt to tackle the issue of Asian men and online dating, but the film’s portrayal of this was slightly tone-deaf and could have been better utilised to push the story forward in an interesting manner.
Here’s an interesting fact. According to a study conducted by online dating site OKCupid between 2009 and 2014, Asian men and Black women are the two least swiped-on demographics on dating apps. This is not at all shocking considering the portrayal of the demasculinized Asian man in American media. Josh Lin, played by Jimmy O. Yang, epitomises this Asian man who has been burnt too many times by dating apps. Unfortunately, the film uses this as a justification for why Josh decides to catfish Natalie, something that is problematic in itself.
I would love to say that this film felt like a warm hug that filled me with Christmas joy and hope, but it felt more like a sweaty hug from that uncle you’d rather avoid during family gatherings.
If you’re looking for something mindless to fill your time, this is it, but if you’re looking for something a bit fuzzier, look away.
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Picture: Netflix Love Hard Twitter