Haley Lu Richardson and Ben Hardy elevate what could be a throwaway tale of a meet-cute on an international flight
There are certain hallmarks of a throwaway made-for-streaming movie, particularly of the Netflix variety – a bland aesthetic of medium close-ups and over-saturated color, lighting somehow both too dim and too bright, cliched location shots, a predictable enough plot aimed for 75% attention on the couch. Not that this is inherently unenjoyable; there are delights to a movie that knows what it is and is game enough to deliver accordingly.
Love at First Sight, in which Haley Lu Richardson and Ben Hardy play two star-crossed strangers who meet-cute on an international flight, is the type of breezy, comfort-food film that should be 90 minutes and, thankfully, is. Directed by Vanessa Caswill from a screenplay by Katie Lovejoy, the film, based on the book The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E Smith, doesn’t belabor the point of corny but heartwarming romance. And what it loses to too Netflix and too twee – scenes awash in neon pink light, Jameela Jamil’s winking, pedantic narration of facts, figures and fate – it gains in two winsome, strikingly naturalistic performances from its magnetic leads.
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