All Because Of you (Pasal Kau!) a 2020 Malaysian rom-com which premiered on 1st October 2020 on Netflix. Directed by Adrian Teh, the film makes a mark as Netflix’s first-ever Malaysian film, starring Hairul Azreen, Janna Nick, Amerul Affendi, Henley Hii, Namron, Theebaan G, and Taufiq Hanafi alongside other cast members.
Lovestory Gone Haywire!
In recent times, Netflix has been home to movies, documentaries and shows from around the globe. With the recent growth in French shows, Netflix has now brought to its viewers its first Southeast Asian-Malaysian rom-com, expanding the streaming platform’s spectrum even more.
All Because Of you revolves around the lives of luxury hotel workers. Jane (Janna Nick) likes her coworker Aiman (Azreen) but something or the other always interrupts her talking to him or confessing, for that matter. But like every other rom-com, Aiman fails to see that or catch any hints, annoying Jane all the way and eventually falls for a hotel guest, an influencer named Sofia (Sophia Barakbah). Everything is going fine, clingy and cliche with stereotypical jokes, when things take a turn and terrorists enter the hotel. To defuse the situation and keep people safe, Aiman and his colleagues come together to fight these baddies and what follows is action, drama, romance, everything we have already seen before.
All Because Of you is not exactly a rom-com you would want to see. The characters and story both lack depth which is pretty much the reason for this film to not be audience-friendly. While the consumption of Western cinema is more well-known and that might as well be the reason for the dislike, the movie loses its essence in translation mostly. If the movie was to be seen as a puzzle, the sequences and the pieces won’t end up making a whole picture but rather, an incomplete and messy idea.
With a cast that is talented and well-known in their respective fields, the film’s feeble and tedious making and jokes bring the whole scenario down with a few hyper moments. Other than that, the film is mostly flat with no tone or wanted action, walking on the straight line of predictability. The lack of character depth also follows the lack of audience connection with the character.
For example, if you did not relate even a bit with Lara Jean Covey in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, then how even would root for her and want her relationships to work out? But All Because of You clearly lacks this and you would find yourself not rooting for the characters – neither the lead nor anyone else.
The film has a lot of jokes that you can’t help but frown upon as they are either based on homophobia or fat-shaming or any other such sensitive things. While this might have worked out for some people, it clearly was a fail for me as such jokes make the movie characters ableists rather than funny!
Stream It or Skip It
SKIP IT! All Because Of You is a slouchy movie with nothing much to say or show. The plot is haywire and if you are looking for a rom-com, this isn’t one! The direction, action, and screenplay are messy and there is little to no scope for you to like this film as a major part of it is lost in translation and the sloppiness of the story.
All Because Of You is now streaming on Netflix.
Read our other reviews here.