Romantic comedies are a dying breed in Hollywood. That’s not to say they don’t still exist, but not to the degree they once did and most certainly not as dotted upon. When Harry Met Sally, Clueless, You’ve Got Mail, and even Knocked Up — these classics are, to a great extent, relics. Now, if you factor in gay romantic comedies, forget it. You’d be lucky to pluck a handful that aren’t stereotypical, heteronormatively narrated, or just downright bad.
You can imagine the excitement then when Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue, one of the most popular romance books of 2019 and winner of Goodread’s Best Romance category, was announced to be in the works at Prime Video. The adaption was announced the same year as the book’s publication and over the course of the following three years, Matthew López was brought in as the director, and Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine were cast as the two main leads, Alex Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry.
The movie was released on Prime Video on Aug. 11 with an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score and twice as much fanfare online. Its smoldering hot main leads and questionable R-rating generated enough buzz that proves the desire for rom-coms, especially super-steamy gay ones, hasn’t died down, even if Hollywood seems to think so.
What is the plot for Red, White & Royal Blue?
Red, White & Royal Blue sports a good olf fashion enemies-to-loves trope, but its LGBTQ+ foundation provides a much-needed modern fairy tale that’s been missing in queer films.
The story kicks off with Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the first son of the President of the United States, attending a royal wedding in Britain as a representative of the U.S. There, he encounters Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine), the younger brother of the groom, whom Alex can’t stand because he views him as “smug,” “entitled,” and the “world’s ruddiest person.” After a verbal altercation turns physical, the pair wind up covered in the bride and groom’s wedding cake, which they toppled over and destroyed.
As a way to rectify the PR nightmare resulting from the headline-making incident, Alex’s mother, President Ellen Claremont (Uma Thurman) comes to a joint decision with the Royal Family to set Alex and Prince Henry on a path of PR rehabilitation. The pent-up enemies are forced to flaunt a fake friendship in a round of public appearances.
When an unexpected kiss from Prince Henry at a New Year’s Eve party finds Alex coming to terms with his bisexuality, the pair embark on a new mission, this one a double front: friends in the public eye, “friends with benefits” behind closed doors. However, emotions ascend to new heights when Alex and Prince Henry are forced to reconcile with the repercussions of their coupling after an unexpected curve ball put both of their families’ reputations at risk.
Like the book it is based upon, Red, White & Royal Blue won’t have you blotting your bleeding heart or stemming the flow of tears, but it will make you smile, and it will make you laugh. Gay love doesn’t always have to be dramatic, and it surely doesn’t always shave to touch upon the harsher realities of being gay in a straight world. Sometimes, like their heterosexual counterparts, gay rom-coms can be lighthearted, silly, corny, and even unrealistic. The fact that Red, White & Royal blue is all of those, and more, is perhaps the biggest testament to how far we’ve come. The fact that it manages to stick the landing, is well, a nice cherry on top. For that reason alone, it’s worth a watch.
Red, White & Royal Blue is currently streaming on Prime Video.