Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    EA Sports Madden NFL 26 Head Coach But Why Tho 5

    Dear EA Sports, Why Can’t I Make A Hot Coach?

    08/14/2025
    Blade in Marvel Rivals Season 3.5

    Blade Can Shut Down The Other Team In Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 If You Know How

    08/08/2025
    John Cena and Cody Rhodes during Summerslam 2025

    The SummerSlam 2025 Main Event Was A Fever Dream We All Needed

    08/08/2025
    Street Fighter 6 Sagat

    Sagat Brings Depth And Approachability To ‘Street Fighter 6’

    08/07/2025
    Battlefield 6 Classes - Support trailer image

    Battlefield 6 Really Wants You To Play Support (But Knows You Won’t)

    07/31/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » REVIEW: ‘Dear David’ Nails Its Ending

REVIEW: ‘Dear David’ Nails Its Ending

Jason FlattBy Jason Flatt02/10/20234 Mins Read
Dear David - But Why Tho
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Dear David - But Why Tho

Dear David is an Indonesian Netflix Original YA movie by director Lucky Kuswandi. Laras (Shenina Cinnamon) has a secret online fiction account where she writes romance stories about her crush David (Emir Mahira). When she accidentally forgets to log out of her account on a school computer, somebody leaks the stories to everyone in school. But even with all of his unwanted, newfound attention, David still can’t get his own crush and Laras’ former friend Dilla (Caitlin North Lewis) to pay him any attention.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

The movie starts off with a gorgeously costumed and constructed fantasy scene. It happens a couple of times throughout the movie, and honestly, not enough times. These scenes are completely outside the realm of the main characters’ privileged Jakarta lives, and for most of them, help really set the movie off on a distinguishing note. It does perhaps give the impression that there’s going to be more of these kinds of scenes than there wind up being since the best ones are frontloaded. And it does make jumping into the mundane real world a bit of a bummer. But the rest of the movie has lots of ups and downs and ends on a real high.

These highs and lows are most extreme in relation to the central dramatic conflict, Laras’ stories, their leaking, Dilla getting blamed, and David becoming massively embarrassed. The lows here are mostly derived from the fact that for the vast majority of the movie, not a single person stops to think something is wrong. There are parents going around reading the stories. Teachers are senselessly blaming kids with no evidence. It’s sometimes aggravating to watch all of these people just blatantly violating David like this.

But then there are moments sprinkled throughout where Dear David shows that it’s aware of how messed up the situation is and that it’s actually trying to be a commentary on the awful pedagogy and hypocrisy of the puritanical society. It’s actually quite effective in this by the end, with a very strong final scene making it all quite explicit. I just wish that it would have been a bit more explicit throughout because having such a violating situation tangled up with romance makes it easy to forget that teenagers are being exploited here.

The central romantic conflict is a classic YA love triangle. There are plenty of eye-rolly moments with overly grand gestures, and the way that David’s being an athletic soccer player makes up the majority of his personality, at least, in the eyes of his countless doters. But on the whole, once the romantic pieces start falling into place, it somehow works, despite the circumstances that brought it all together. There are solid queer elements, never feeling exploitative despite the plot literally being about exploitation. The conflict between the three main characters is a bit too generous in how quickly feelings turn among them, but it also always feels grounded in real conflicts teens in this situation would be struggling through. Their poor decision-making and lack of communication start out irritating, but by the end, it feels like it’s made up for in spades through some genuine reconciliation and comeuppance.

Dear David really does nail its ending. By the end, not only do the threads of the romantic pieces feel tied up, but all of the social commentaries that could have been overlooked by an audience who wasn’t looking for it comes around to clearly announce itself. It’s not a guarantee in YA that all of the character elements, like David’s anxiety and the messages about societies’ shortcomings, will get neat bows on them, so it feels great that it happens here.

Dear David delivers on both its romantic and dramatic plot threads. The journey to get there isn’t always as good as its ending, but some great fantasy scenes and enough of a good connection between the leads make it worth the watch.

Dear David is streaming now on Netflix.

Dear David
  • 7.5/10
    Rating - 7.5/10
7.5/10

TL;DR

Dear David delivers on both its romantic and dramatic plot threads. The journey to get there isn’t always as good as its ending, but some great fantasy scenes and enough of a good connection between the leads make it worth the watch.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleReview: ‘Velma’ Season Finale Fails to Satisfy
Next Article 3 Chaotic Xbox Game Pass Games To Remind Lonely People It Could Be Worse This Valentine’s Day
Jason Flatt
  • X (Twitter)

Jason is the Sr. Editor at But Why Tho? and producer of the But Why Tho? Podcast. He's usually writing about foreign films, Jewish media, and summer camp.

Related Posts

Lurker promotional still from MUBI

REVIEW: ‘Lurker’ Probes The Intoxication Of Fame

08/19/2025
The Knife (2025) promotional still
7.0

REVIEW: ‘The Knife’ Is Simple And Too Much At The Same Time

08/17/2025
Still from Shin Godzilla
8.5

REVIEW: ‘Shin Godzilla’ Is More Relevant Than Ever

08/16/2025
Fixed promotional key art from Netflix Animation
6.0

REVIEW: ‘Fixed’ Is Top-Notch Animation But Bottom Of The Barrel Comedy

08/15/2025
Denzel Washington Highest 2 Lowest
7.0

REVIEW: ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ Has A Ton Of Fun Missing It’s Own Points

08/15/2025
Nobody 2 promotional still with Bob Odenkirk
9.0

REVIEW: ‘Nobody 2’ Is A Killer Sequel

08/14/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Still from Shin Godzilla
8.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘Shin Godzilla’ Is More Relevant Than Ever

By Sarah Musnicky08/16/2025Updated:08/17/2025

It is understandable how Shin Godzilla succeeded at the box office nearly a decade ago. The strength of its story still stands today.

Botanical Bliss Update Palia But Why Tho 5 News

Palia’s New Botanical Bliss Update Brings New Flora, Decorations, And Quest Mechanic

By Matt Donahue08/18/2025Updated:08/18/2025

The Botanical Bliss update adds new event, more plushes, and a host of quality-of-life improvements and more to celebrate 2 years of Palia.

BOOTS Netflix First Look promotional images News

First Look at Coming-of-Age Story BOOTS, Coming to Netflix This October

By But Why Tho?08/17/2025

Netflix is reporting for duty this fall with the new eight-episode series BOOTS, a comedic drama starring Miles Heizer and Vera Farmiga

Nuestra Magia Secret Lair Art Interviews

EXCLUSIVE: How The ‘Nuestra Magia’ Secret Lair Found Its Identity And Raised Over $1M

By Kate Sánchez08/15/2025Updated:08/15/2025

We spoke with Ovidio Cartagena about Magic: The Gathering’s Nuestra Magia Secret Lair drop, its impact, and the real treasure within.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here