For me, it’s simple – I am a proud sucker for rom-coms. I take pleasure in what’s oversimplified, or overcomplicated, and how it is all executed. Even better, when a romantic comedy is mixed with a coming-of-age scenario or has a Shakespearian backbone.

That is why I’ve been quite enthusiastic about the new addition to that genre, Anyone But You, starring Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) and Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria), directed by Will Gluck.

A meet-cute in a mundane location, a bit of physical comedy, a one-night stay, a promise of so much more – in the first ten minutes we learn everything. Anyone But You does not pretend to be auteur cinema, or some “crème de la crème” production, but the important thing is that it delivers.

It fulfils the promise of a simple, unapologetic, grand rom-com we’ve been waiting for years now, bringing, hopefully, a new life to the genre.

There’s not much to say about the story – Ben (Glen Powell) and Bea (Sydney Sweeney) meet one day at a café. A romantic – but not physical – one night-stay results in Bea leaving, as she fears intimacy, only to walk on Ben when he is telling a friend how he cannot wait for her, Bea, to leave, as she is a mess.

The best part of the film is that there’s evident chemistry between the two co-stars.

Through their mannerism and acting it’s evident that Anyone But You strikes as a film the actors really enjoyed making – attractive and charismatic to a degree that it’s no surprise that the press speculated about their chemistry off-screen.

Yes, not every joke worked, and much of the filmmaking feels very commercial, but I turned a blind eye to it because Anyone But You delivers on the most important points of a rom-com: there’s an authentic romance, explosive chemistry, and comedy against the backdrop of stunning Australian locations.