Love in Aruba (2021)

Look, I went in expecting something truly dreadful. The reviews online had me bracing for impact, genuinely preparing myself for the worst. So I was almost relieved when Love in Aruba turned out to be... fine. Just fine. Mediocre, really. Bland in that particular way that somehow takes real effort to achieve.

This is part of my A-Z World Movie Tour, with Aruba ticked off the list, and I'll be honest: the island itself is probably the most compelling thing on screen. There are stretches of this film that feel less like narrative storytelling and more like a holiday brochure with dialogue awkwardly spliced in. Beautiful beach? Camera lingers. Picturesque resort? Let's spend a good thirty seconds just... looking at it. I half expected a voiceover telling me about competitive flight prices from Amsterdam.

The story goes exactly where you think it's going to go, at exactly the pace you expect, hitting every beat in precisely the order you'd predict if someone described the genre to you. Romantic drama set in an exotic location: person meets person, complications arise, feelings develop, resolution arrives. Congratulations, you've seen it without watching it. The script doesn't do anyone any favours either. Some of the dialogue is painfully functional, the kind of writing that exists purely to move characters from one location to the next rather than to reveal anything interesting about them as people.

The acting is a mixed bag. Most of the cast do a reasonable enough job with what they've been handed, which isn't a great deal. Nobody embarrasses themselves, but nobody exactly shines either. You come away remembering the palm trees more than the performances, which is probably not what anyone involved was aiming for.

Now, there's a scene, and I'm still thinking about it, where characters have a fairly lengthy conversation about Aruba's use of renewable energy. Which is admirable, genuinely, as a real-world fact about the island. But wedged into a romantic drama, it lands with all the grace of a school geography lesson crashing a date. It's the kind of moment that makes you wonder whether the tourism board had some involvement in the production, because it's very specifically the sort of detail that appears in "Interesting Facts About Aruba" articles rather than in, say, believable human conversation.

Here's the thing I genuinely cannot get my head around: this was apparently released in cinemas. Cinemas. I refuse to accept that as the natural home for this film. Everything about it screams Sunday afternoon television, the sort of film your nan has on while she's doing the crossword and occasionally glancing up at the screen. Which isn't an insult, exactly. There's absolutely an audience for this kind of unchallenging, easy-watching romance. Your nan would probably enjoy it. A certain demographic will find it perfectly pleasant, and fair play to them.

But for anyone expecting genuine romantic tension, memorable characters, or a story that surprises you even once, you're going to be left wanting. It's not offensive, it's not a disaster, it's not the catastrophe some reviewers make it out to be. It's just resolutely, determinedly average. Two stars feels right: one for the scenery, one for not being as bad as I'd feared. That's about as much as I can honestly give it.

Two stars.

Rating: ★★  | Year: 2021  | Watched: 2025-05-25

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Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Rent: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video
Buy: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · YouTube TV · Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Great American Pure Flix Amazon Channel
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Fandango At Home
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Fandango At Home
Physical: Amazon US

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