We’re all guilty of trying to look mysterious and unbothered at our check-in gate in case our soulmate might happen to walk by. Imagine heading to baggage claim and locking eyes with
your future partner … so romantic. Maybe not, but Netflix’s fairly new movie, “Love at First Sight,” reveals that a lot can happen in an airport. The movie combines the heartwarming (yet slightly corny) elements of young adult (Y.A.) romance along with a narration of possibilities, facts and statistics relating to the characters’ every move. The cast includes some faces you’ve probably seen on screen before, including Haley Lu Richardson (The White Lotus), Rob Delaney (Deadpool 2) and Jameela Jamil (The Good Place).
Based on the novel “The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight,” the movie follows the lives of two strangers who coincidentally meet in an airport and are booked on the same flight to London. Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson), a 20-year-old NYU student, is on her way to her father’s second wedding and misses her flight by mere minutes, causing her to book the next flight and bump into Oliver (Ben Hardy), a 22-year-old statistics student on his way back home for his mother’s celebration of life. The two have chemistry right off the bat and end up seated next to each other, revealing their fears and exchanging bits of flirty banter. Unfortunately, passport difficulties and a mistimed kiss causes them to be separated in the London airport crowd, but not before Oliver is able to give his number to Hadley. The film’s narrator (Jameela Jamil) cameos throughout the scenes as a flight attendant, bus driver, and passerby, helping the two love interests find their way back to each other.
“Love at First Sight” is unique in the way that it combines math with a typical star-crossed lovers story. The narrator ushers us through the storyline by spitting out facts about the probabilities of certain events happening, including Hadley’s 21% chance of being late to the airport and a .2% chance of Hadley and Ben’s acquaintances having mutual friends. This hooked me, as I wanted to see if Hadley and Ben beat the low odds. In Y.A. romances, I personally love when one of the love interests is American and the other is British, as it highlights how two entirely different people born in different countries with different tastes can be brought together by a chance event, no matter how unrealistic it may appear in the movies.
There aren’t any shocking plot twists, tearjerking moments or characters you might despise. It’s a predictable movie with bits of comedy thrown in. I audibly laughed at Oliver’s younger brother’s obsession with DJing, and again at some of the awful yet hilarious performances at Oliver’s mother’s celebration of life. It was also interesting to see Hadley cope with change, as she believes in the idea of true love and struggles with the presence of a new woman in her father’s life, clinging onto the hope that her parents would get together again. I like seeing the scenery of London during Christmastime; it made everything seem more romantic. Of course, with a title like “Love at First Sight,” the movie has a couple of cringe comments, stares, and attempts at flirtations, which is standard for any Y.A. romance movie. But unlike some, there aren’t any toxic characters or manipulative exes. It’s a sweet story that itches your brain in the right way. It’s impossible to not root for the two love interests to end up together. And at 90 minutes, the movie is an easy watch, so the storylines aren’t elongated and don’t become unbearable. I’d recommend this movie if you love romance or statistics, and if you love both? It’s a perfect medium.
