The Polish romantic comedy Squared Love All Over Again (Miłość do kwadratu jeszcze raz) is a sequel to Squared Love, directed by Filip Zylber. Both movies follow the life of an elementary school teacher who is also a model and her romance with a womanizer journalist. While the first movie depicted how these two fell in love, the sequel shows us how they both build their relationship despite certain unexpected turmoil.
The official Netflix description of the movie reads,
A celebrity journalist and a down-to-earth teacher find their relationship in rocky waters when a job gets in the way of their new life together.
The movie’s main cast includes Adrianna Chlebicka, Mateusz Banasiuk, Mikolaj Roznerski, Tomasz Karolak, Monika Krzywkowska, Miroslaw Baka, Helena Mazur, Krzysztof Czeczot, Jacek Knap, Ewa Kolasinska, Izabela Dabrowska, Sebastian Stankiewicz, Mikolaj Cieslak, Maja Hirsch
and Iwo Rajski. Michal Kush scores the movie’s original music, and the cinematographers are Kacper Zielinski and Maciej Lisiecki.
– Squared Love All Over Again Review Contains No Spoilers –
Squared Love is already a headache to watch, and I had high expectations for the sequel since the prequel got much backlash. However, the sequel is even clumsier than the first part. We’re back with the same cast, Monika (Adrianna Chlebicka) and Enzo (Mateusz Banasiuk). The happy couple is returning from their vacation, but things get worse when they return. Enzo loses his job because his boss (who is also his ex-girlfriend) fires him and blacklists him in the journalism industry. On the other hand, Monika is followed by the paparazzi, causing a ruckus in her daily life.
Though the couple seems to have a disturbed life, they keep their spirits high. Monika gets a huge offer and gets super busy, making Enzo feel belittled. As a jobless guy, he feels inferior to Monika, who is becoming the buzz of the city. While this storyline seems like the director wanted to show how jealousy breaks a relationship, the whole plot was pointless.
Even if Monika is a big model, the hype they give her is artificial. She is portrayed as children’s saviour (no idea why), and a talent show script is forced into the movie to build that adjective. Her character, being kind to children, doesn’t feel honest. Again, why did they include the theme of children in a supposedly romantic comedy movie? Is this movie about Enzo and Monika’s collapsing relationship or Monika being the hero of the children, which is shown too dramatically?
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Additionally, the part where we see Monika’s dad and his dating life again feels pointless. Why is his story there again? To increase the movie’s runtime, perhaps? What happened to Enzo in the end? He legit didn’t do anything supreme other than being advised by his nephew that he could become an online star, but did he become one? Why did Monika, an elementary teacher and a model, is constantly shown she loves children? Why is that theme in a movie focusing on a breaking relationship? Is this a romantic comedy? Then where the heck was the comedy and romance?
The character of Rafal was even dumber. In one scene, Monika learns about how Rafal isn’t actually being kind to her but is following someone’s orders. Oh, God. Did the editors forget how to make sense of that scene? Right before that revelation or whatever, we see Monika and Rafal at the exact place when the sun is up. In the next scene, Monika is seen running out from that same place, and it’s already night.
Alright, I’ll let go of that one. But again, when Monika runs back to that same place to get her bag, she catches Rafal on the phone. So, you’re telling me Rafal can’t even notice someone behind him running like that? Please. This is nonsense. And when he discovers that she has found the truth, there’s no emotion on his face. Did the actor forget how to act?
The supposed climax is this scene where Monika learns that she was set up for a trap all along. But how they execute it makes the entire movie even more pointless. Overall, I figured from the movie that the director probably wanted to show a woman like Monika’s bravery. Nevertheless, I only cringed and laughed.
The director could have beautifully shown how a couple tries to fight off the inferior complexity issues they’re facing. He could have shown how both of them strive to become better people in their careers. Instead, there’s so much going on in this movie that it led the genre out of the door. Really, I am still comprehending the take-home message of this movie.
Squared Love All Over Again: Final Verdict
Waste of time. There isn’t any romance in this movie to be considered a romantic comedy. Oh, don’t start me on the comedy genre even. The movie is a mix of tiny, tiny stories to maximise the movie’s length. Monika and Enzo didn’t even have a genuine conversation after their fight rather, in the end, they just joined together. Non-sensible.
The way the children’s theme was stuffed felt tiring. The children’s talent audition, the school, scenes like the judges being mean to the kids and Monika being heroic and voicing out against it, why? Was the director trying to sensitize that kids shouldn’t be criticized? Well done if so, but he should have made an entire movie on that topic. Not stuff it like this and make the viewers wonder what’s going on.
If you haven’t watched the movie, it is streaming on Netflix. Let us know what you feel about the story in the comment section.
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