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Writer's pictureChris Buick

You Get Me Netflix Film Review

Directed by #BrentBonacorso

Written by #BenEpstein

 

Tyler (Taylor John Smith) is having the best summer with his girlfriend Ally (Halston Sage), with the two growing more infatuated with each other by the day. But when someone from Ally’s past brags about the sexual affair they had before him, Tyler lashes out at Ally, upset that she would sleep with that guy but not with him, resulting in an ugly break-up.


Distraught, Tyler encounters Holly (Bella Thorne), an attractive and mysterious young woman with whom he ends up having a one-night stand. The next day, after reconciling with Ally, Tyler tells Holly that they can’t see each other anymore. But Holly has other ideas.


The main problem with You Get Me is very much a case of too much style over virtually no substance. Far too many of the same glossy visuals are used

repeatedly, shot after shot of beautiful young people walking around absurdly enormous houses leaves you less interested in the film and more so in what their parents do to be able to afford them.


The writing doesn’t seem to offer much either, with pretty bland dialogue throughout, not to mention the use of phrases like “You swallow, I swallow” which stand out for all the wrong reasons. The supporting characters are given almost nothing to contribute, except a small role for Lydia (Anna Akana), who is the only one to kind of notice that Holly is so clearly a psychopath that she might as well be wearing a sign. In fact, the entire cast are barebones in terms of character development, and any backstory for the main cast is vaguely hinted at but any detail that might be intriguing is unfortunately missing.


It is unclear whether the filmmakers want us to like Tyler or not, but as the central character he comes across as a self-entitled, immature and ultimately an arse who gets upset simply because someone doesn’t want to sleep with him right now. Holly herself is incredibly over-sexualised which makes sense for Tyler’s initial attraction to take hold, but there is no need for her to be walking around in her underwear in the final act. Ally comes across as overly naïve to the point of irritation and neither are good bases for strong female characters. In fact, the film's attitude towards women in general is quite concerning where women seem to be either regarded as sexual objects to be cast aside at will, or simply insane, dumb or both.

Perhaps an attempt to make Fatal Attraction contemporary for the current generation, but You Get Me just ends up being a fatal 90-minute cliché.

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