SINGLE ALL THE WAY (on Netflix) was such a great friends-to-lovers movie and exemplified how to do the love triangle well. This post is a bit late because it’s a Christmas movie, but you know, it’s still enjoyable all year round. 🙂

Friends-to-Lovers

Philemon Chambers and Michael Urie are the two best friends. The friends-to-lovers journey was done really well. Their friendship was so warm and established, and then Philemon Chambers made you believe how much he loved Michael Urie–showing that he wanted more, with just the way he looked at Michael Urie.

Triangle

And as you know, I love analyzing romantic comedy love triangles. They made Luke MacFarlane as the “Bellamy” so nice that he was a viable alternative, but you liked Philemon Chambers so much that you still rooted for the Philemon Chambers and didn’t come away with “Second Lead Syndrome.” Luke MacFarlane was a great guy; he was just not the right guy for Michael Urie.

(In Korean dramas, Second Lead Syndrome is when you want the female protagonist to end up with the second lead instead of the main lead. I first experienced that in Boys Over Flowers. And I also really liked the second lead in She was Pretty, although the main lead held sway.)

Having a nice guy as the alternative does two things: (1) it increases the tension because your MC may believably fall for him; and (2) it reflects well on your MC. One of the problems with having a not-so-nice suitor is that I then wonder why the MC would choose (or chose) that person. A not-so-nice suitor can make me lose all faith in the MC’s judgment. On the other hand, that can be a character flaw that they overcome.

Family

I also loved the whole interaction with the family. I liked that the father was the one trying to push the Philemon and Michael together. I previously wrote about how family can be the antagonist. In SINGLE ALL THE WAY, the mom is inadvertently the antagonist when she sets Michael up with Luke MacFarlane. But several other supporting characters, like Michael’s father, then take the opposing view, supporting Philemon’s suit.

Let’s Talk

Have you seen SINGLE ALL THE WAY? What did you think? What did you think of the friends-to-lovers journey and the triangle? Do you prefer friends-to-lovers or enemies-to-lovers?

The above magical art is by a Ukrainian artist, Olga Landau, from this past summer (@hexette on Instagram). She is still in Ukraine. What is happening in Ukraine (and other countries where there is war) makes me very sad. And sometimes I find it hard to concentrate on writing.

You can bid in Book Aid for Ukraine on two autographed paperback copies of my books, Partner Pursuit and Is This for Real?, with the proceeds to benefit British Ukrainian Aid.