| Director | Patricia Font |
| Writer | Marta Sánchez |
| Cast | Aitana, Fernando Guallar, Natalia Rodríguez, Adam Jezierski, Paco Tous, Miguel Ángel Muñoz, Àlex Maruny |
| Runtime | 98 minutes |
| Based On | Behind the Wall (Un peu, beaucoup, aveuglément) |
| Genre | Romance, Comedy |
| Native Title | Pared con pared |
– No Spoilers –
In this Spanish rom-com, Valentina moves into a new apartment in search of freedom and personal growth totally unaware of the fact that her next-door neighbour cannot work without complete silence. That wouldn’t have been a problem had their walls not been paper thin, resulting in them being able to hear everything that was happening in each other’s homes. Ticked off, the two neighbours start a war for their rights to live in the building, resulting in both of them learning some valuable life lessons.
Netflix’s newest romance film is nothing new when it comes to rom-coms, it’s an enemies-to-lovers trope that we have come to love and hate over the years but one that we cannot ignore. The movie focuses on the personal lives of these two individuals as well as their relationship with each other as they both tackle their inner demons in order to have a suitable character arc. In the midst they find love with each other, of course, but in a very different way.
The central romance of the story is a surprisingly heartwarming affair. Taking place across two apartments in the same building, Valentina and David’s love story is warm and watchable and in spite of not sharing the screen together for most of the runtime, they share some really cute chemistry that makes your heart flutter. Although it makes for an odd story, it’s still warm and frothy regardless. There’s also some humour in the situation that makes you smile, which is also great.
I think the biggest flaw of the movie is everything else that comes with it – the story arc is cliched and seems a bit over the top. It also tries too hard but doesn’t end up making an impact because it takes forever to get to the point. The individual storylines aren’t strong enough to keep us invested either because both of these people make you look a little sideways because they make so many bad decisions that it gets on your nerves.
Plus, our protagonist is a mix of cute nativity and male fantasy that feels out of place and makes us not relate to her. Her odd innocence feels a little forced in this day and age and unnecessary as well. On the other hand, David, the next-door anti-social geek is the perfect candidate to date this somewhat manic pixie girl with an innocence streak and is as cliched as they come. Do they look absolutely adorable together? Sure. But that’s all that this film offers, which is also a great thing.
Aitana and Fernando Guallar play our protagonists and they do justice to their roles. Both look splendid doing what little they are given for their characters. Guallar is cute and geeky and is exactly what you’d expect him to be while Spanish singer Aitana,
Love Divided Review: Final Thoughts
Love Divided has all the classical traits of a rom-com filled to the brim with the cliches that make this genre. It isn’t able to nail the landing but it does keep you mildly invested in the cute romance and the frothy feelings, along with Aitana’s magical voice and beautiful hair that I one day strive to be able to take care of!
Love Divided is streaming on Netflix.
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