Glen Powell's romantic comedy Anyone But You is now available to rent or buy digitally after becoming a box-office phenomenon since its December release.
Co-starring Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney, the movie is a hilarious watch, deliciously absurd as a modern-day Shakespeare adaptation and refreshingly sexy. It will also have you singing Natasha Bedingfield's 'Unwritten' on a loop for days. Maybe weeks.
However, Anyone But You is not Powell's romantic gem — Netflix's original movie Set It Up is actually the brilliant rom-com you should be watching on Valentine's Day, or any other day of the year.
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It's not just a testament to Powell's charisma. It's also one of the best rom-coms of the last decade, gathering all the ingredients that make us swoon over this beautiful and underrated movie genre.
Directed by Claire Scanlon and written by Katie Silberman (co-writer of Booksmart), the film follows Charlie (Powell) and Harper (played by Zoey Deutch), two exploited assistants who work in the same office building in New York.
Harper's boss, Kirsten (Lucy Liu), is the famed editor-in-chief of a sports magazine where the young assistant wants to make her a name as a writer. Charlie's boss, Rick (Taye Diggs), is the head of a hedge fund where Charlie is hoping to climb the ladder. Both bosses are horribly demanding and rude, making their assistants' lives total hell.
One night, Charlie and Harper fight over a food-delivery situation and end up bonding over their miseries. They also devise a genius plan: set their bosses up and make them fall in love in the hopes that by focusing on their relationship instead of work, the bosses will make Charlie and Harper's lives easier.
The duo effectively become the creators of a romantic comedy while inadvertently living their own from the sidelines.
Set It Up is surprisingly smart, as it splits the story into two connected narratives that somehow show the past and present of the rom-com as a genre.
When the protagonists start setting up their respective bosses, they set out to create the perfect romantic story, including a meet-cute in an elevator, a Kiss Cam moment during a baseball game and other adorable coincidences.
It's like they're writing their own '90s rom-com.
At the same time, Charlie and Harper get to know each other and share more time together. While prompting others into love, they're leading their own 21st-century romance: a pair of overworked, frustrated, overqualified millennials trying to navigate societal expectations and find a healthy life-work balance.
Set It Up has the best of both worlds, as it delivers a double romance narrative that speaks to different generations and different eras for the genre.
Refreshingly, it also reverses traditional gender roles since Harper is the one fighting for a professional future while Charlie is more worried about his personal growth.
Clever writing aside, Set It Up works so well because it's funny, romantic and arrestingly charming.
Powell and Deutch's physical comedy draws from the screwball comedy genre, and their chemistry is electrifying. We could see them banter all day long, and both of them have an edge of silliness that has us laughing at every turn. As the classics — from It Happened One Night to When Harry Met Sally — have taught us, that's a vital element of an excellent rom-com.
Both actors previously starred together in Richard Linklater's 2016 movie Everybody Wants Some!! — which, by the way, is another incredible show of Powell's star power and a highly recommended university comedy.
Now, the actor is on the crest of the wave. He went toe-to-toe with Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, revived the big-screen rom-com with Anyone But You and later this year will charm Netflix viewers with his critically acclaimed comedy Hit Man and the anticipated Twisters sequel.
This is the perfect moment to go back to Set It Up and remember why it's such a stellar title in Powell's filmography thus far.
Set It Up is available to watch on Netflix.
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Mireia (she/her) has been working as a movie and TV journalist for over eight years. Based in the UK, she is a former deputy movies editor at Digital Spy, and previously worked for the Spanish magazine Fotogramas. Mireia's work has been published in other outlets such as Esquire and Elle in Spain, and WeLoveCinema and GamesRadar+ in the UK. She is also a published author, having written the essay Biblioteca Studio Ghibli: Nicky, la aprendiz de bruja about Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service.
During her years as a freelance journalist and film critic, Mireia has covered festivals around the world and has interviewed high-profile talents such as Kristen Stewart, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal and many more. She's also taken part in juries such as the FIPRESCI jury at Venice Film Festival and the short film jury at Kingston International Film Festival in London. LinkedIn
