I first went into this with an open mind. The hair-pullingly, cringy marketing campaign of this movie, with Margot Robbie trying -and failing - to convince people she has a crush on Jacob Elordi, certainly did not help. But nonetheless, lets start with the strong part of the movie.

The cinematography was, generally speaking, really strong. The locations the film is set in are breathtakingly beautiful and definitely a solid choice for the subject matter. Also, some of the humor lands well, when the movie leans into its absurdity and slightly self aware nature, especially when it tries edgy ideas.

Aaand thats where the positives end. On the flip side, somehow it seems way too self-important and serious at some points. Buried in what I can only describe as an ocean of Jacob Elordi thirst trap scenes, are overdramatic, constantly repeating sentimental moments that desperately try to top one another. Add to this the fairly obvious points where the director uses hamfisted "artful" brushes and strokes, like the white tiles on the entrance of the main house and the partly cellophane-like dresses, it makes it all seem borderline pretentious and obnoxious. Then, unavoidably, I should mention the book.

So bear with me here. Just for clarification, I have not - and will not - read the original book the movie is based on. However, even I ended up being taken aback with how shallow the relationship between the supposed "source material" and the end product is. It seems the director treated the book as merely an inspiration, making the very naming a complete miss at best, or a tacky marketing scheme at worst. Only the "brand name" of this book is used, probably because really successful films have already been made adapting it. But, even though faithfulness is out the window and long gone from discourse of this film anyways, it isn't - none of the aforementioned problems are - the main, basic problem. The central point where is all fails for me is the miscasting, which I think is evident.

What sticks out like a sore thumb during the runtime is that at no single point did i suspend my disbelief that these two actors are well... acting. At no point were they anything else than two actors mimicking awkward (!) romantic scenes together. It is not their acting ability per se, even though Jacob significantly outperforms Margot. It is the fact that these particular actors, even though admittedly beautiful, just do not belong in a 1700s setting. They positively, definitely, utterly look completely out of place in a 18th century story. There might be directors that can pull this off, but the set up is simply not surreal enough to cross over to artful suspension of disbelief for me. Margot & Jacob look like Barbie & Ken, there is nothing to distract from this, and it is really, really distracting.