Do you know what worries me? It’s not people who watch horror movies or violent action movies, it’s people who watch romantic comedies, and resonate with them.
In _Happythankyoumoreplease_ (which I will henceforth refer to as HTYMP... easily one of the worst and most annoying titles ever thought up), we get not only one, but three, stories of bad relationships. Wether it’s the bad communication, the boundary violations or ignoring red flags, all we’re seeing is a set up to doomed relationships.
I actually had to wonder if it was worth criticizing, and it is. See, romcoms are notorious for serving toxicity to the masses and playing it off as cute. Could you imagine if _Sleeping with the Enemy_ were written as a cute romcom and not a horror movie about domestic violence? A bad relationship is a bad relationship, there are simply different degrees. This is just a reminder of why I hate romantic comedies. Don’t let the bouncy, indie rock soundtrack fool you.
As for the movie itself, it’s just okay. I was interested enough in the main story, but I was mostly waiting for the ending. If you're the type of person who loves saccharine stories, you’ll enjoy this.
I have to ask, what is the responsibility of a writer? Does a writer have any ethical obligation to make a reality-based movie a template for healthy relationships? Or is it that most relationships are fucked up, and that’s a proper representation of life? Fair, but does it have to be depicted as ideal? Lastly, is this all void, because ultimately, this is fiction? Well, if it’s just fiction, then all the rules are meaningless, ergo a healthy relationship can be presented, even as an outlier.
HTYMP really is one of the worst "romantic" movies I have ever seen - granted, it's no _Notebook_, but still pretty bad.
If you want a good indie romcom, watch _The Boy Downstairs_ (2017), it is both funny, and sad, while staying true. It shows that people are flawed, and we have to grow, we have to change. We don't just get to be adorable train wrecks.