This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Billy Eichner really wanted Bros to feel like the 1990s romcoms he loved growing up. Those movies in set up were inherently silly; Bros is too grounded for that designation. However, Red, White, & Royal Blue isn’t. The wonderfully ludicrous set up is willed to life by two charismatic stars in the making, with thousand watt smiles and adorable chemistry for days. The film also gives a new wrinkle to the British/US “Special Relationship.”
The UK Prime Minister (Sharon D. Clarke) and President Claremont (Uma Thurman) of the US are working on a new trade deal. The pair initially hoped the kids of the leaders would engage in a winning public relations campaign to sell the deal to their countries. However, Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez) and Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine) from the British Royal family have despised each other since their first public appearances together, causing a cake related international incident. The PR fallout forces Alex to go on an apology tour to the UK as the sacrificial lamb to Prince Henry’s delight. During that forced time together, that seething hatred for one another might be hiding some other feelings instead.
This setup could not be more wonderfully stupid: sons of high profile political figures fall in love with one another. However, as a movie? It’s genius. It means all we do is spend time in beautiful palaces, gorgeous hotel rooms, remote luscious landscapes. You know, rich people places. Everyone is wearing a suit or a gown or completely naked with washboard abs. You know what the audience isn’t complaining about? A killer New Years Eve party with fireworks in the sky, or a nighttime view of a lit up Eiffel Tower. The lovely window dressing makes it easy to distract people from the movie’s flaws to have a lovely conversation about identity, duty and love. The movie knows this too; I mean, who uses Get Low by Lil’ Jon & the Eastside Boyz to set up a locked eyes moment? So amusingly dumb, no notes.
And who better to embody amusingly dumb and hot than Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine. The movie works because of these two, acting as super hot LGBTQIA representatives of their respective countries. Perez is the new American dream: a biracial bisexual emotional open book from Austin Texas, unafraid at all times to be himself and try new things and experiences. Galitzine is the traditional British opposite: stoic and charming, but completely closeted and suppressed, perpetually living a double life. That friction of course generates continental electricity, sparking hotness and sexy time across the Atlantic Ocean. The movie balances the two properly as well. Galitzine’s secret is the emotional through line, and shockingly the Perez subplot about helping his mom win reelection gives more texture and growth to the young playboy turning into a leading man. The young men are super hot when they need to be hot, prickly when they need to be prickly, and most importantly, connect when they need to connect.
Red White & Royal Blue does exactly what it’s title is suggesting. It leans into its over the top crazy premise and embraces it wholeheartedly, cutting the cynics down with its honest, open heart. I look forward to Amazon challenging Netflix’s romcom supremacy, as Summer I Turned Pretty and this one have real shots to give us some fun streaming fights on that front, where they can then make up with a kiss in the rain.