(2022) Look Both Ways - An Unconventional and Anti Mainstream Romantic Comedy Movie

I have seen this movie's brief synopsis which looked mildly interesting when it was released on Netflix few days ago, but I was a bit doubtful to give it a try. Until my wife watched it first and told me it was very unique and there's a chance I would like it. So I decided to watch it 2 nights ago. And here's my views of the movie.

Brief Story Line

Natalie Bennet (Lili Reinhart - Hustlers, Chemical Hearts etc) was a college student who had a 5 year plan that she wanted to follow after graduation. However, after having sex with her close friend Gabe (Danny Ramirez - Top Gun: Maverick, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV series etc), she started worrying if she might be pregnant. With the suggestion from her best friend Cara (Aisha Dee - The Bold Type TV series etc), Natalie decided to take pregnancy test. 

And this would be where we were shown the two alternate realities of her life depending on the result. So what would happen to Natalie in these two realities? Well you can find them out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

As you can see in my brief story line above, I did not want to divulge too much information as it would ruin the story. But I am sure that once you read it, you would be intrigued in finding out what would happen to Natalie in these two different alternative lives. It was definitely interesting in looking of how different they were and yet there were still some similarities.

What made this movie enjoyable was the performance of Lili Reinhart (who also served as producer) as Natalie who lived out both her lives and how the choices she made also affected her future. I thought she was pretty convincing in portraying sort of different characters. There were other characters in here who were integral part of the story, such as Natalie's parents Tina (Andrea Savage - The Hotwives mockumentary series etc) and Rick (Luke Wilson - Star Girl TV series, Blue Streak etc), the successful animator Lucy (Nia Long - 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, NCIS: Los Angeles TV series etc) and Natalie's boyfriend Jake (David Corenswet - The Politician TV series etc). 

As a movie that was categorized under romantic comedy, I actually felt this to be a really unconventional one. Usually we could already guess the outcome of movies of such genre but in here we were kept on guessing till the very end. And I also like the ending which was quite original since I was thinking it might be concluded in a certain way but it turned out to be different. My wife's term was anti mainstream which I think was spot on. 

While watching this 110 minutes movie that did not have any mid or post end credit scene, I did not notice any reference to a novel, comic, film or TV series. So it certainly felt that the writer April Prosser was really creative in making this. Plus it was directed by renowned African director Wanuri Kahiu that likely made this quite entertaining. What surprise me though the movie was not too highly regarded by critics who apparently felt it was too similar to a 1998 film titled Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow. This is a nice revelation for me as I now have a knowledge of another movie that has similar plot and should give a try in the future.

Overall this is an interesting rom-com movie that was unlike the standard film of its genre. Despite the possible similarities with another film, but as I had not seen that one, I could not say this to be better or worse. What I can say though is this movie was enjoyable enough for me and my wife. It is definitely recommended for those who wanted to look for something different in a romance drama.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars