Prime Video’s Red, White & Royal Blue is set to challenge Netflix's Heartstopper for the rom-com crown
If you're looking for an enjoyable, funny and heartwarming rom-com with echoes of Netflix's Heartstopper and Young Royals, Prime Video may have the show for you. Red, White & Royal Blue will be released on August 11, and advance word says that Amazon has a romantic hit on its hands.
Based on the bestselling and critically acclaimed book of the same name, Red, White & Royal Blue tells the story of Britain's handsome and charismatic Prince Henry and the much-loved son of America's first president (Uma Thurman), Alex Claremont-Diaz.
Played delightfully by the very beautiful Nicholas Galitzine and Taylor Zakhar Perez, the two men have nothing but contempt for one another – contempt that ends up threatening the uneasy alliance between the UK and the US. When their feud becomes politically problematic, Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry are forced into an uneasy truce to keep the peace. And if you've ever watched a romantic comedy, you can guess what happens next.
As you can see from the trailer below, this new Prime Video movie looks like it's going to be a ton of fun, especially if it's anything like Hearstopper season 2. It's great to see the best streaming services adding more rom-com flicks.
What are people saying about Red, White & Royal Blue?
The book on which the show is based is a step above your average romantic comedy. Casey McQuiston's romance tale has received rave reviews from critics and readers alike: NPR called it a "must-read romance"; Glamour said it was "one of the most universally beloved books of 2019"; and the American Library Association (ALA) said it was "the perfect summer read, full of big emotions, clever banter, and characters who will claim a part of your heart".
And as the ALA also pointed out: "It is SO GAY". A common theme in the reviews of the book, and in the excitement over the Prime Video adaptation, is that this is in many ways a classic rom-com but with brilliant LGBT+ representation. That's something that's still sadly lacking, despite the success of shows such as Heartstopper. So for queer people, seeing Red, White & Royal Blue get the big-ticket Amazon treatment is huge.
Praising "this propulsive, pulpy rom-com" in the LA Review of Books, Harrison Hill wrote that they wished the book had existed when they were in high school. "I was hungry for a fun, readable book that spoke to the clamorous wondering in my gut; a book that allowed coming out to be difficult but not life-ending; a book that showed it was possible for two young men to be in a relationship that was as real and fun and complicated as any of the straight romances I encountered at the library or the multiplex," Hill writes.
Judging by the trailer, it looks like Amazon has managed to capture the mood of the book: you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll get awfully hot under the collar at some of the sex scenes. If Red, White & Royal Blue turns out to be even half as good as the book, it looks like it might be on the of the best Prime Video movies of the year.
