Raunchiest Rom-Com of 2024 That Outdid Bridget Jones Drops on Netflix in April
The movie's release was the rom-com genre's biggest event.
After its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, the romantic comedy genre began to lose ground and settled on television and Netflix.
Crazy Rich Asians, a rare example of a high-budget, high-quality rom-com that immediately became a modern classic, could have been also released on a streaming platform, but the novel's author, Kevin Kwan, refused to sell the rights to Netflix, preferring to release the film in theaters. The calculation proved to be correct, but one box office hit did not change the fate of the entire genre.
The decline of the romantic comedy is not surprising: the same fate has befallen other genres aimed at adult audiences and not prone to spectacular effects. Adult viewers increasingly prefer the comfort of their own homes to the theater, and producers cannot recoup their investment on Valentine's Day alone.
Anyone But You Might Become a Salvation for the Whole Rom-Com Genre
However, in late 2023 and early 2024, fans of Pretty Woman, When Harry Met Sally and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days had an unexpected hope for the revival of a forgotten but no less beloved genre.
Anyone But You brought this hope, starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell. Moreover, the film was directed by Will Gluck, who had created such exemplary rom-coms as Easy A and Friends with Benefits, further ensuring audiences that the romantic comedy was about to find a second wind.
And Anyone But You did not disappoint, at least commercially – the movie grossed $214 million, becoming the first R-rated rom-com in eight years to reach the $200 million mark, even surpassing 2016's Bridget Jones's sequel.
Such box office success clearly showed that the rom-com is still alive and kicking, and that audiences are willing to go to the theaters to see it, which should be a more than clear indication to studio executives to take a closer look at the genre again.
In addition, Sweeney and Powell admitted that they are already looking for worthy scripts for a new film together.
What is Anyone But You About?
Ben and Bea meet by chance in a coffee shop, their acquaintance turns into a date, and the date turns into a night together. But the complexes and prejudices of the main characters get the better of them, and the suddenly rekindled love fades under the onslaught of rising fears.
Six months later, Ben and Bea meet again, this time at the wedding of mutual friends. There is no trace of their former sympathy; now they simply hate each other, and at the same time spoil the atmosphere of the holiday. In an attempt to save the event from collapse, guests, friends and even Ben and Bea’s parents decide to help them fall in love again.
Anyone But You Adds New Ingredients To an Already Familiar Formula
You may notice that the synopsis of the movie doesn't stray far from the classic rom-coms of 20-30 years ago, but it has a little secret ingredient. What does it take to revive the genre in 2024? It turns out that the answer is simple – the movie has to focus not on the circumstances, but on the characters.
Make them more reflective and therefore more relevant to the consciousness of our time, where everyone has their own experience of toxic relationships and processing emotional trauma. Ben and Bea may not have the depth of characters from dramatic movies, but they are not flat, as viewers have often seen in rom-coms during the crisis of the genre – the 2000s and 2010s.
The love and relationships in Anyone But You are more grounded in reality and, as befits a film released in the 2020s, do not promote toxic behavior or present idealized patterns about romantic relationships. Anyone But You may not be perfect, but it's a breath of fresh air that will hopefully spark the revival of the romantic comedy genre that we've all missed so much over all these years.
Where and When to Stream Anyone But You?
If you missed the movie in the theaters, you can watch Anyone But You very soon – it drops on Netflix on April 23.