New release The Half of It is already a critics' favourite, and now Netflix audiences can judge this new teen rom-com for themselves after it just landed on the streaming service.
Award-winning filmmaker Alice Wu writes and directs, gifting us the character of high-schooler Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) in the process.
Ellie lives in the fictional, very white town of Squahamish with her immigrant father. Her side hustle is helping her classmates cheat their essays, which then becomes helping bumblingly sweet high school jock Paul (Daniel Diemer) write love letters to his crush - Aster (Alexxis Lemire).
What Paul doesn't know and what Ellie continues to hide, is that Aster in her crush too.
The non-toxic very-distinctive way friendships are portrayed here is a breath of fresh air and while in many ways this feels like a classic teenage rom-com, of course it comes with a refreshingly delivered LGBTQ twist, unafraid to gently tap on the door of the Church without the usual heavy-handed judgement.
With a few dips into melodrama and a trope here and there, The Half of It is not without its flaws.
But as the final credits rolled I realised Ellie Chu had easily won my heart, and she could well do the same with yours.
Four-and-a-half-stars.
TV on demand
My words or anyone else's could never serve justice to a review of Devs. So just go watch it, I promise you'll struggle for words after it too!
Written and directed by Ex Machina and Annihilation filmmaker Alex Garland - two reasons to watch Devs right there - this eight-episode sci-fi thriller on Neon is the real deal.
Big-ticket ideas to kickstart your muddled lockdown cerebral cortex, the slow-burn spy murder mystery the trojan horse for those ideas and the love stories romantic and filial pumping the blood straight to the heart.
Does it all look and sound a little too pretentious for you? Sure, maybe, but even if that's your immediate go-to I beg you to push past that thought and dive in.
Along with season 3 of Ozark, Devs is hands-down the best show I've watched so far this year.
