Look Both Ways (2022) Netflix Movie Review

On the eve of her college graduation, Natalie's life diverges into parallel realities: one in which she becomes pregnant and remains in her hometown to raise her child, and another in which she moves to LA to pursue her dream career. Look Both Ways is a new Netflix romantic comedy starring Lili Reinhart and Danny Ramirez. Should Look Both Ways be on your watchlist? Thanks for checking out my Look Both Ways (2022) Netflix Movie Review!

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*****

My couch rating system:
5 - A must-watch - do not pass this one up
4 - It's really good, you should see it
3 - It's OK - maybe good for a rental
2 - It's not that good and I wouldn't recommend it
1 - It's terrible and I definitely don't recommend it
0 - Cutting off a finger is better than watching this

#LookBothWays #LiliReinhart

[delyte]

As someone that often wonders what my life would’ve been like if I had not had my son at 22, this story was amazing. I walked away with a sense of peace that I didn’t have. I know this was simply a movie, but it put some things in perspective for me on a personal level. No matter the road I took, I can still have everything I want in the end. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

[sarachoo]

to me the main message is like even though your life will take different routes if you work hard and do things correctly you will be able to achieve your dreams

[Codename_Dee]

Idk I liked it a lot I love how both sides started at the same point at the college house they verged onto their own paths but in the end came to the same result with both versions accomplishing their dreams even though they went two different paths. To finish it off with both of them coming back to where the paths split to look in the mirror and say “you’re okay” was gold to me and I loved how they did side by sides and they always walked in the opposite direction I loved the meaning of this movie a lot.

[barbiquearea]

This movie reminded me a lot of 1998's Sliding Doors, which starred Gwyneth Paltrow. I will say its my favorite film of this kind of "select your own adventure" genre.

[radhinig]

I’ll take this any day over an episode of Riverdale. Can’t wait to hear your review of Beast (the Idris Elba film). It’s out in two days where I live😁

[dianeblaylock]

I loved it she looked so much like Britney Murphy to me its like having her back! 😭

[anniem]

This movie didn’t work for me 😅can’t really articulate why, but found it really cheesy. Also why they decided to switch the haircuts was an odd decision

[jeseramirez]

I like how both guys were very different but still compatible for Natalie.
Gabe had less in common with Natalie, BUT they had more chemistry, an intangible.
While jake had more in common with Natalie, but even though they had some chemistry, it wasn’t like what she had with gabe . In the end I left feeling like gabe was the one for her, just not what she expected

[MichaelLudden]

It should've been called "Ya Can't Go Wrong"

[thejullycabral]

I haven´t seen yet, but your description of this movie made me remember a movie in the 90s with Gwyneth Paltrow, Sliding doors.

[thePowerPlant]

Hi Chris, I really recommend for you to watch FX's "The Bear". I found it a very compelling family drama about a dysfunctional family restaurant in Chicago, IL. The story centers around a young man, the titular "Bear", who recently left his high pressure, chef de cuisine position at Eleven Madison Park, a real world restaurant in NYC. His brother willed him their family's sandwich shop in Chicago, and it is up to our protagonist to make his family's floundering business into a success. The series is very good. The drama between the members of the restaurant and "The Bear" is palpable and the constant screaming matches between he and his cousin are even squirm inducing at times based on how real they feel. Watching the team come together over the course of the eight episode first season was really a nice ride. There's also some great food porn in there too. So how about it, Chris?

[tessavanderven]

The hair cut switch confused me and caused me to confuse the storylines as well 😅

[youththerapywithsnow]

I preferred the single, no baby daddy involved Natalie though. I think that life's wayy better.

[han]

Tbh i really was confussed first watching the movie

[frogginaround]

The meltdown at the baby shower was unrealistic. Who tf thinks they'll have their dream job & have made major accomplishments in such a cutthroat field 5 years out from college? I kept squinting and trying to do the math every time they switched timelines. Kind of falls apart the more you over analyze her life without the baby. Her not showing the portfolio & then being art shamed out of a job.... did that development take years bc if it was exactly mirroring the other life it would have been years out.

[cececelery_]

Dear other self starring Jodi Sta. Maria is also a what if movie.

[L_Martin]

My 2 biggest gripes with this movie: 1. The art is AWFUL, even with the major "lesson" for Nat being she has to find her artistic voice, her drawings never progress or develop, from the first dreadful doodles we see in the opening, to her art up on screen at South-by that we're asked to believe would be award winning and lauded in the animation industry. I was rolling my eyes so. Hard.

The drawings and animations were just so mediocre, like something a 14 y/o would doodle, absolutely not reflective of the talent required to succeed in that industry, so that really broke my suspension of disbelief every time I saw her art on screen. It would be like in a sports movie, showing someone who can barely catch a ball and can't run properly - but we're being asked to believe this person is a professional athlete.

There's animators here on YT with better stuff. I'm sorry to be a jerk to the artist they did use, but seriously. Why not make her a cartoonist who does witty web comics about motherhood? That would have been instantly believable and the film wouldn't have needed us to believe something that strains credulity.

2. Conflict - the issue you hit upon in your review. The last 3rd of the film deteriorates plot-wise because the film never properly grapples with the deeper implications of bringing A LIVING BEING into this world, or not, depending on fate or chance or whatever. The film never went into WHY Nat had chosen to have the baby (would have been interesting to see why such a young woman with no apparent religious affiliation would not get the A word, but that's never touched), and the film never actually showed me Nat ENJOYING motherhood. There is never a moment where her motherhood is celebrated, and honestly the child character is so perfunctory and just brushed over, it's a bit like "Hm, why was this the premise of your film when you don't seem to actually want to tell a story about why this character chose to be a mother??"

There's a great conversation between Nat and her mother early on in the film, right after Nat has given birth, where the mother talks about "mourning who you used to be" - I felt like that conversation was the actual message of the film and belonged in act 3. This self-absorbed uber-millennial starting out narcissistic and self-obsessed, and ending up with some maturity and thoughts about motherhood - that could have been interesting. Instead, the film adores this self-obsessed uber-millenial from the outset, showing zero self-awareness I'm afraid in terms of the writer of the film's script and her projection of herself into the character... 

It suddenly struck me - the film had to give BOTH versions of Nat her "happy ending". The obvious solution to me, which I felt was going to be the plot outcome, was that LA-Nat failed in the industry because she was too young and inexperienced in life to have a true artistic "voice", and she's too immature to risk leaving her assistant position to strike out and quit, go and grind / develop herself artistically. VS Pregnant-Nat who actually **does** discover she has an artistic voice through her experiences of being a mother and staying home and being forced to reckon with her childhood / family / reconnecting with her early artistic influences on her childhood bookshelf, that kind of thing - and so via this less likely route, she winds up sharing a truly authentic artistic voice by uploading her art online. 

BUT then we got the watery non-message at the end of the film, where of course both Nats just HAVE to be raging successes. Why? Because it wouldn't do to have the non-pregnant Nat not instantly succeed in her 20s, while pregnant Nat did! That would send a completely wrong message! We can't suggest that a stay at home mom who had her kid aged 23 or whatever could actually do better for herself as an artist compared to her career-focused counterpart! Impossible.

Women have to be fed the same message where we get celebrated no matter what we choose to do in life, we need to be told we're going to succeed! Be a professional! Be a mom! It's irrelevant - you'll get your work shown at the festival whatever you choose. It's such a cop out. It could have been really interesting to suggest careerist "artists" sometimes never wind up actually finding their voice because they get so ground down and exploited working lowly jobs within the industry, and meanwhile a mom at home uploading a cute weekly comic strip about being a mom could actually tap into life experience that's really personal and authentic and resonates with loads of readers online and goes viral. But that message isn't progressive enough I guess. Women apparently still need to be told all our choices are "valid".

This film definitely needed a "truth teller" character (e.g. Melissa McCarthy in 'Bridesmaids') who could give the fairly narcissistic Nat a much-needed dose of reality in act 3.

Sorry I wrote such a lot, I felt so frustrated by the end.

[candace]

I really liked the movie. Very relatable.

[casaundravega]

I loved the movie but was disappointed she didn't end up with the same love interest in both storylines. Call me foolish, but i wanted her to find "the one."

[runycbw]

Why does she have a black baby though is the question lol