“How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days.” “10 Things I Hate About You.” “Legally Blonde.” The list goes on and on with classic romantic comedies (rom coms) that have gone down in history as absolute bangers. While the early 2000s were filled with iconic and unforgettable rom coms, the genre has been going through what can best be described as a drought. That is until a couple years ago when we entered a rom com renaissance with the release of “Set It Up” with Zoey Duetch and Glen Powell, and then recently “Anyone But You” starring Sydney Sweeny and Glen Powell. Really, Glen Powell has been doing wonders for us rom com girlies. Recently another film that restores the good name of the rom com genre was released on Amazon Prime: “Upgraded.”
Starring Camila Mendes and Archie Renaux, “Upgraded” follows Ana (Mendes), a struggling New York intern at a very famous and luxurious art gallery. Due to a small error, she’s invited to be an assistant to the head of the gallery on a trip to London. The flight assistant takes pity on when she notices how the other assistants treat Ana and decides to upgrade her to first class (hence the name of the film). While in the first class lounge, she takes full advantage of the amenities and while she’s walking around in her spa robe and slippers, drinking a Bloody Mary, she walks right into a guy, spilling her Bloody Mary on his suede shoes: cue the meet-cute. To Ana’s luck, the same guy ends up sitting next to her on the long flight to London. The two get to know each other and William (Renaux) misinterprets Ana’s reason for traveling to London and assumes she is actually the head of the gallery in New York rather than an assistant. Instead of correcting William, Ana lets him believe that she’s the boss because she doesn’t believe she’ll ever see him again.
Now, unfortunately for Ana, she is the star of a rom com, so she most definitely will be seeing Willam again and she actually meets his mother – who loves Ana immediately and invites her on outings throughout her trip. Because William and his mother are actually super rich and socialites in London, Ana uses their access to restaurants and events to get a leg up at her job by being able to do things the other assistants can’t, like getting tickets to a sold-out play. Everything seems to be going super well for her – she starts dating William, her boss starts to recognize her talent for curating art – seriously, what could go wrong?
In a not so shocking turn of events, it’s discovered that Ana has been lying and in an effort to not spoil too much, she has to face the consequences at her job and in her love life. The highlight of the movie is not only that Ana and William eventually end up together at the end, but it’s also that Anna is able to gracefully fix her mistake and ends up achieving her dreams. It wasn’t a film solely focused on getting the guy, Ana was actually a likable character. And that’s what makes for a good rom com, having a fleshed out female lead that has her own aspirations.
Andie Anderson. Kat Stratford. Elle Woods. All female leads that made the most iconic rom coms and they all had goals that weren’t centered around a man. That’s the key to making a successful, enjoyable rom com – and obviously casting hot actors. “Upgraded” did it all and was so entertaining to watch. Truthfully, I consider myself an expert on this topic and this movie has my stamp of approval. It is officially a part of my rom com rotation.