The New Romantic | SXSW 2018 Film Review

The New Romantic opens with reflections of a Tinder date gone wrong. Or is it simply going according to plan? As with most anything in the dating world, it’s open to interpretation. Frustrated with the tasteless way in which courtship has evolved in our society, Blake (Jessica Barden) is fed up. Chivalry is all but dead, so why continue to engage in such mundane activities when the opposite party is singularly focused on nothing more than “hooking up”?

As a senior college student in desperate need of a spark to spice up her sex column, one which is sorely lacking in actual sex, Blake is searching for a new angle to dating in the modern era. One arises after a meeting of happenstance with the sophisticated Morgan (Camila Mendes). A beautiful woman of seemingly equal age, Morgan chooses not to live by societal rules of appropriate dating techniques. Instead, she elects to declare herself a “sugar baby”, or one who spends time with a suitor and in return receives gifts of significant monetary value. Not quite prostitution, while also not too far off, this concept captures Blake’s interest and before long, she is exchanging dates for mopeds with a far older professor (Timm Sharp), and possibly sacrificing her own needs and self-esteem in the process.

From the mind of writer-director Carly Stone, The New Romantic posits an intriguing quandary: with how superficial and emotionally muted modern dating has become, is it really so morally reprehensible to lay out expectations and receive a bonus for your time? So much of a relationship is already based on give-and-take, why not walk away with a few vacations and sequin dresses when it’s all said and done?

Jessica Barden (The End of the F***ing World) is a unique choice for this project. While she has gravitas to pull off any punch in the script, as well as the sleek demeanor to bring heart to the more emotional complications of sugar babying, she also has an extremely youthful face and almost childlike voice. The moments with Blake in coitus with the much older professor are particularly uncomfortable, as you will have to remind yourself this is a film centered around a woman in her early 20s, not an American Beauty remake. While initially uncomfortable, this eventually becomes a selling point as it forces the viewer to specifically address why this situation is particularly uncomfortable to them. Is it due to the age difference, the exchange of “services”, or just the complete lack of understanding in modern courtship? Barden’s witty and near-whimsical turn as Blake is the glue that drives the entire production and point home.

The film also features a sound supporting cast (Riverdale’s Haley Law and Mendes, Jane the Virgin’s Brett Dier), established actors who compliment the proceedings. As Blake’s roommate Nikki, Law in particular provides the ever-present voice of reason a film like this needs to truly flow as a tangible possibility, rather than just another rom-com lacking in fundamental plausibility.

By the conclusion, both Stone and Barden have established themselves as formidable forces-to-be in filmdom. And while the film might function as a modern-day Pretty Woman for many, for this critic, the writing and the talent of The New Romantic echoes an early 80s John Hughes. I guess you could call it The Before Breakfast Club.