Gladys Warindi

Conflicted yet entertained (SPOILER ALERT) Lauren and Liam are two of my favs, and they did do the roles justice, however, I have to criticise the writing on this one for reasons of failing to build a more concrete arc/tension. Diana (Lily Kemp) was an overall nice girl throughout the film (sultry text notwithstanding). Given that there was no premise of bad blood in the relationship when she and Liam arrived for the retreat, the stolen moments between Lauren and Liam at the pool seemed off until said sultry text, and even after that, everything that happened, particularly from Liam's end, seemed to be a justification response to that. Don't get me wrong, Lauren and Liam's characters might be soulmates, but the storyline would have progressed better than it did based on the idea above. I liked the ending, they found each other despite the odds against them but, and I do understand time constraints, building a better, deeper arc for the two characters would have gone a long way into the movie landing its intent seamlessly without it coming off of a point of justification at some point and then warranted soulmate at the end. The saving grace also came from the fact that her 8th book was actually based on the genuine interactions and emancipation of Lauren (the arc of her losing the original book she was working on and proceeding to write this new one validates this, rather than it being from a moment of post nut clarity of her being with Liam when they ventured away on their own from the retreat).

It's been a minute since a show intrigued me as much as this one did. The warping story lines across timelines were seamless and effortless without revealing too much, ensuring you were consistently glued in and invested in wondering what the end game was. I loved that it was a limited series and the arc was closed in one loop (pun intended 🤣). The open cliff hanger at the end sure makes me happy for a continuation possibility, but I'd be happier if they just left it at that, on the off chance that the second installation falls short... Brilliant! For some reasons, I struggle with British shows in genres outside of comedy. I think it has something to do with how I feel the story arcs and builds drag endlessly and unnecessarily, but this one has definitely made me rethink that.

I rarely review movies or read reviews but this one really irked me. I expected so much especially with Samuel L. Jackson in it, but.... (don't get me wrong his character potrayal is still 👌🏽) but overall the acting was so disjointed to the point I started thinking it was intentional. What peeved me the most was the wasted storyline development. What was that ending? The mum plug-in in all this hullabaloo? 🤦🏾‍♀️. Aaargh! It had so much potential to be a really dope film, however the plot lags and actors acting so irrationally dumb yet it's not the 3 stooges type of vibe (unless that was the intention?) really took mega points out of the film.