F*ck Love Too review: A formulaic rom-com that neither stands out nor is entertaining in the slightest

1.5/5

Story:

F*ck Love Too explores the lives of friends Lisa, Kiki, Cindy and Bo, as they navigate love and the complexities of relationships old and new.

Review:

To put a fresh spin on a romantic comedy is a mammoth task. With the plethora of films in the genre today that seem to cover almost every conceivable storyline under the sun, weaving an original story to keep audiences interested is a mammoth task indeed. Instead of a fresh idea for its premise F*ck Love Too regurgitates bits and pieces of tried and tested rom com tropes, resulting in an uninspired, forgettable film that offers nothing new for viewers.

The film, a sequel to 2019’s F*ck de Liefde, follows Lisa(Bo Maerten), who is reeling through some big changes in life including bidding goodbye to an important relationship and losing a loved one. When her friend Kiki(Nienke Plas) gets engaged, the group of friends decide to jet off to Ibiza, being hosted by Lisa’s childhood crush Noah(Dorian Bindels). Sparks fly between Lisa and Noah, and the former finds herself conflicted between lingering feelings for her ex Jim(Geza Weisz) and the chance of a new romance with Noah.

Meanwhile on the other end the stability of already existing relationships come under threat, as Bo(Yolanthe Cabau) decides to call it quits with her husband Said(Maurits Delchot) owing to the lack of effort and a plethora of complaints against the latter. Jack(Edwin Jonker) and Cindy(Victoria Koblenko), whose relationship started on a tumultuous note are expecting their first child together. But unbeknownst to Cindy, Jack has fathered another child with a woman named Monica(Anouk Maas), the latter’s pregnancy coinciding with Cindy’s.

Although the basic premise(s) of F*ck Love Too certainly offers enough potential for a meaty few storylines, the writing fails to make proper use of them leading to a run of the mill and bland rom com. Cliches galore throughout the film and the characters are as shallow and one dimensional as can be. Even the protagonist Lisa’s ‘struggle’ with her love triangle comes across as forced as she displays little to no chemistry with her love interests. Her whirlwind romance with Noah comes out of the blue, with the flimsy explanation of how they had feelings for each other as first graders being nothing short of laughable. The writing’s desperate attempt to bring anything resembling real meaning to their relationship, cranking up Noah’s feelings to a 100 within one day, also feels inauthentic. Lisa eventually comes off across as a manipulative person rather than a woman in search of her heart’s desires. Kiki and Angela as supporting characters are as predictable as they come as the film eventually takes on the hues of a cheap attempt at a Sex and the City film revamp.

The treatment accorded to the other characters’ storylines also suffer from the same kind of pitfalls. With Bo and Said, the makers had a wonderful opportunity to explore the kind of problems and complexities that can take hold of even seasoned relationships. But eventually their story too takes the cliched route. Theirs, along with Jack and Cindy’s story also reeks of sexist tropes, especially with the depiction of Jack as the womanizer with a heart of gold one who eventually tries to turn over a new leaf.

The writers seem to put little to no effort in actually developing characters and storylines in the rom com, and even the sequences where the characters try to display anything with a semblance of character development looks nothing short of half hearted.

Verdict:

F*ck Love Too is an uninspired romantic comedy that tries to regurgitate tried and tested tropes in the genre, leading to an inspired and forgettable film.