Close Menu
  • 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
    Elena Street Fighter 6 But Why Tho

    Elena Brings Style And Versatility To ‘Street Fighter 6’

    06/06/2025
    Lune and Sciel from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

    Lune, Sciel, And The Romance Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Fails To Realize

    06/05/2025
    Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro

    Everything To Know About Eve Macarro In ‘Ballerina’

    06/05/2025
    Marvel Rivals Ultron

    Ultron Brings Aggression To ‘Marvel Rivals’ Support Class

    05/31/2025
    The Wheel of Time

    A Late And Angry Obituary For ‘The Wheel Of Time’

    05/27/2025
  • Star Wars
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Switch 2 Games
  • PAX East
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » REVIEW: ‘Squared Love All Over Again’ Is Barely A Rom-Com

REVIEW: ‘Squared Love All Over Again’ Is Barely A Rom-Com

Jason FlattBy Jason Flatt02/13/20235 Mins ReadUpdated:02/14/2024
Squared Love All Over Again - But Why Tho
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Squared Love All Over Again - But Why Tho

It can’t be easy to make a sequel to a rom-com. If every romantic comedy ends in either the couple getting together or the main character realizing they should absolutely never be with them, then to follow up that story with another one means having to either fall in love with somebody new or fall in love with the same person a second time. Not impossible, but there’s a reason there aren’t exactly big rom-com franchises out there. Squared Love All Over Again, a Netflix Original Polish-language rom-com, falls deep, deep into this predicament.

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

Where the first iteration of this story, Squared Love, had a nice, round, even creative story about Monika (Adrianna Chlebicka) and Stefan (Mateusz Banasiuk) falling in love while weaving in and out of their model alter-egos, Squared Love All Over Again is barely even a rom-com. This time around, the two promise to leave modeling and television behind, only for Monika to get sucked into an offer she can’t refuse, hosting a children’s television talent show with the reprehensible Rafal (Mikolaj Roznerski), a “journalist” best known for making people miserable and embarrassed on TV. But of course, Rafal remains a terrible person as he and his assistant take advantage of her love for her students while plotting to get Monika to fall in love with him to, I don’t know, boost the ratings, or torture Stefan, or something.

I hate movies where the entire plot is based on people just not communicating. I say it basically once a week while reviewing Netflix content at this point. But this is so much worse than that. Because it’s not only a movie about two fully grown adults who can barely muster up the maturity to just talk to each other about how they feel, but it’s barely even about their romance at all. With Rafal serving as the movie’s interloper, you barely even get Monika and Stefan on-screen together. Any and all chemistry I felt watching them fall in love basically evaporated through my constantly being annoyed by Rafal’s existence and the couple’ aforementioned communicative immaturity.

It’s frustrating because on its own, a story about a popular and successful school teacher who loses herself trying to do good by her students would make for a perfectly fine movie. But instead, because this is trying to be a rom-com, the real focus winds up on Rafal and Monika, who I never for a second believe are going to get together or even come close to it. Which is good, because this movie couldn’t handle an actual infidelity plotline on top of everything else making it hard to get through. Rafal is a jerk, Monkia knows this from the start, and they have no chemistry whatsoever. While he’s a similar character to what Stefan was like in the first movie at first, the difference is that Rafal has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, while Stefan is just a sweet guy underneath his trying too hard to be successful. It’s not fun watching Rafal at all.

Somewhat fortunately for Stefan, he at least has his own plot throughout the movie too. His ex-girlfriend (long story, just watch the first movie) blackballs him from the industry and he has to find himself in a world where he’s not rich, not famous, and not successful. Again, this could have been a whole movie on its own. His struggle to find a purpose in life and new line of work alongside his brother, his niece, and Monika’s father (Miroslaw Baka) is endearing. Only, it doesn’t stick any kind of landing at all. All of the dangling threads of possible futures for the character are left unfulfilled by the movie’s honestly undeserved happy ending.

Monika’s father is actually the character with the most complete and most worthwhile arc in the whole movie. His wife died years ago and he’s a mechanic who’s finding himself bored of the job and bored with life altogether. I do really enjoy his scenes with Stefan, they feel really father-son in a way that he gets almost absolutely none of from his actual daughter, save for two fine scenes. While that relationship doesn’t culminate in anything meaningful, he does run into an old customer whose beat-up old car isn’t the only thing he’s interested in spending some time with. I like this side plot the most of anything in the movie and am only chagrined by the fact that Monika has virtually nothing to do with it besides one brief conversation giving him her approval to pursue it.

Squared Love All Over Again can hardly qualify as a rom-com. It’s barely about a romance. It spends its entire runtime keeping its main characters apart for the sake of a terrible interloping plot on one hand and an unfulfilled finding oneself plot on the other. There are some decent elements to the movie, and a few characters with nice moments. But on the whole, just hardly worth your time.

Squared Love All Over Again is streaming now on Netflix.

Squared Love All Over Again
  • 4/10
    Rating - 4/10
4/10

TL;DR

Squared Love All Over Again can hardly qualify as a rom-com. It’s barely about a romance. It spends its entire runtime keeping its main characters apart for the sake of a terrible interloping plot on one hand and an unfulfilled finding oneself plot on the other. There are some decent elements to the movie, and a few characters with nice moments. But on the whole, just hardly worth your time.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleABLAZE Licenses Manga Titles By Osamu Tezuka
Next Article REVIEW: ‘Tomo-Chan Is A Girl’ Episode 6 — “Birthday Present”
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

A still from Predator Killer of Killers
8.5

REVIEW: ‘Predator: Killer of Killers’ Finds Humanity In The Hunt

06/06/2025
DanDaDan Evil Eye
8.5

REVIEW: ‘DanDaDan: Evil Eye’ Is A Crackling Delight

06/04/2025
Ana De Armas in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
8.5

REVIEW: ‘Ballerina’ Shows That A John Wick-Verse Can Be Good

06/04/2025
Abigail Cowen in The Ritual
3.0

REVIEW: ‘The Ritual’ Is An Unfulfilling Slog

06/04/2025
Dangerous Animals movie still from Shudder and IFC Films
9.0

REVIEW: ‘Dangerous Animals’ Subverts All Expectations

06/03/2025
Wick is Pain documentary keyart
9.5

REVIEW: ‘Wick Is Pain’ Captures The Passion And Beauty In Action

05/30/2025
TRENDING POSTS
Wu-Tang Clan: Rise of the Deceiver promotional art shared by Brass Lion Entertainment News

Wu-Tang Clan Returns To Video Games With Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver

By Kate Sánchez06/06/2025

During Summer Game Fest 2025, Brass Lion Entertainment celebrated its debut teaser trailer for Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver.

Kim Da-mi in Nine Puzzles
8.0
TV

REVIEW: ‘Nine Puzzles’ Spins An Addictingly Twisted Tale

By Sarah Musnicky06/04/2025

Nine Puzzles deserves some of the hype it’s generated since dropping on Disney+ and Hulu with its multiple twists and turns.

Kang Ha-neul and Go Min-si in Tastefully Yours Episodes 7-8
7.5
TV

REVIEW: ‘Tastefully Yours’ Episodes 7-8

By Sarah Musnicky06/03/2025Updated:06/03/2025

With the ending rapidly approaching, Tastefully Yours Episodes 7-8 set the stage for what will hopefully be an emotional finale.

Teresa Saponangelo in Sara Woman in the Shadows
6.0
TV

REVIEW: ‘Sara: Woman In The Shadows’ Succeeds Through Its Plot

By Charles Hartford06/05/2025Updated:06/05/2025

Sara Woman in the Shadows follows a retired government agent as she is drawn into a new web of intrigue when her estranged son suddenly dies

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