On Aug. 31, 2023, Netflix released “Choose Love,” its first interactive romantic comedy film. Now, if you are anything like me, you might be thinking “How can a movie be interactive?” Well, remember those “Choose your own adventure” books you read when you were younger? “Choose Love” takes that on in cinematic form, allowing you to determine which choices you want the main character to make and ultimately decide the ending for yourself.
“Choose Love” follows Cami Conway, played by Laura Marano, as she decides between three different love interests. The first one, Paul, played by Scott Michael Foster, is Cami’s long-term boyfriend. Jack, played by Jordi Webber, comes into the story next, and it’s revealed that he was Cami’s highschool love. Finally, when Cami is working at her recording studio one day, famous musician Rex, played by Avan Jogia, comes along. All top-quality bachelors, Cami must decide who to choose. But here’s the catch: you get to decide for her.
The movie starts out normally but quickly transforms as the viewer is given their first choice within five minutes. It’s at this point that you must decide if Cami should hear bad news or good news. Netflix gives you 10 seconds to make your selection, and the actors will respond accordingly. The movie will continue to go on like this and pause incrementally, giving the viewer 10 seconds to make a choice, big or small, for Cami.
Throughout the film, you’ll end up making decisions ranging from if Cami should lie to her boyfriend, if she should go on a date with her ex-boyfriend from high school or if she should stand up to her boss. Eventually, the decisions you make influence which bachelor Cami ends up with. I have to give it to Netflix because they took the classic “Which one should I choose?” trope and put a spin on it. However, the movie itself lacks a fulfilling storyline and it feels like the only reason I kept watching was to make the decisions. In some cases, the choices you make don’t change the storyline at all and seem unnecessary.
If you are thinking of watching this movie, I recommend you do it with friends. The lively deliberation over Cami’s actions makes the movie significantly more interesting. Netflix brought a new generation of film, but I’m unsure how successful it will be, as the overall plot of the film seems to be lacking.
