Which Brings Me to You, 2024.
Directed by Peter Hutchings.
Starring Lucy Hale, Nat Wolff, John Gallagher Jr., Britne Oldford, Genevieve Angelson, Alexander Hodge, Ward Horton, Marceline Hugot, Laura Kai Chen, Mitzi Akaha, Chase Liefeld, Avery Cole, Jamie McRae, and Michael Mulheren.
SYNOPSIS:
Two romantic burnouts meet at a wedding and almost hook up in the coatroom before putting the brakes on. They agree to exchange candid confessions about their pasts on the off chance that this might be the real thing.
The romantic lives of Jane and Will (Lucy Hale and Nat Wolff) are such trainwrecks that, in the opening moments of Which Brings Me to You (such a small but clever title that sums up both what the movie is trying to do, and also the fact the relationships we all find ourselves in and what we are attracted to is built on past experiences and previous love) they find themselves at a wedding for a couple neither of them is particularly close to, ending up inside a storage room ready to have sex. Jane is slightly intoxicated but still eggs Will on into it, although he ultimately pulls himself away for that reason but also due to the baggage he feels he is obligated to share before they continue on. As for Jane, she is frustrated and tells them that he blew his one shot to be with her.
Soon after, they find themselves alone on the beach together, where Will once again attempts to apologize and explain why he couldn’t go through with spontaneous sex. He then launches into telling an embarrassing but funny story about his first love and sexual encounter that went south fast. As Will sets up the story, Jane repeatedly chimes in that she doesn’t want to hear it, at least until he gets to the awkward part about how a certain bodily fluid ends up squirting into his eye. From there, she becomes semi-interested in this relationship and what he has to say, but something else also happens: she begins to feel comfortable opening up about her baggage and love life.
With that, it also becomes clear that director Peter Hutchings (working with screenwriter Keith Bunin, adapting from the novel by Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott) perceives Which Brings Me to You as a story about the rewarding, relieving, healthy effect of opening up, getting to know someone through talking, and the release one generally feels from getting baggage off of their chest to someone they might be interested in. They also tend to share the same problematic trait of pushing people away, among other characteristics, which might not make them the best match on paper, although they do see a window to relate, call each other out, and see something special within one another.
Whenever Will and Lucy tell one another about a previous partner, there are appropriate flashbacks that typically culminate with them in the shot, observing what happened. This gives the concept a more cinematic presentation while also ensuring that Lucy Hale and Nat Wolff (who have believable, moving chemistry here as two damaged individuals slowly noticing something worthwhile in one another) are being used to their fullest extent.
At times, some of the depicted relationships come across as a bit too exaggerated, presumably because there is much more time to flesh each one out inside a book structure. One might also question nearly everything these characters do with their dating lives, but the performances are there once again to salvage some of the clunky writing and illuminate the humanity here.
There also comes a point where each character raises their seriousness to talk about one last partner, which feels unnecessary and only complicates the story right before the inevitable climax. However, even then, the script still finds elements within those mini-stories to bring back to the present day regarding who these characters are and the specific ways they need to change to evolve. Which Brings Me to You is certainly a charming, if flawed, love story that’s also about healing and the power of opening up.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
Originally published February 3, 2024. Updated February 5, 2024.
