How to Date Billy Walsh (2024)

How to Date Billy Walsh (2024)

An over-the-top teen romance with severely dry characters and ideas

4.5

Movie

United Kingdom
English
Comedy, Romance
2024
ALEX PILLAI
Charithra Chandran, Charles Camrose, Daisy Jelley
98 min

TLDR

It's Sex Education, without the sex or the education.

What it's about

Lovestruck teen Archie (Sebastian Croft) tries to sabotage a budding romance between his childhood love Amelia (Charithra Chandran) and charming new student Billy Walsh (Tanner Buchanan).

The take

The film takes us into the mind of a performative teenager trying to convince us, or an imaginary cameraman, of his coolness and wisdom. The second-person device may evoke teen comedy series from the 2000s (at best), but it is incredibly disorienting in this 100-minute movie. It is a slog of straightforward punchlines and tired cliches, which picks up a little too late in the final act where the central idea finally reveals itself: the harder you try to maintain control, the more easily it slips away. Similarly, the less brain power you use for this film, the better it gets.

What stands out

"If you think too loudly, you'll never hear the answer you're looking for" is a great line.

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