Red, White & Royal Blue Is the Cheesy Romcom That the Queer Community Deserved Decades Ago
First Son meets Spare Prince in this raunchy rom-com. That’s essentially the plot of Red, White & Royal Blue, the latest teen rom-com from Amazon Studios, which has made a name for itself as the place for book-to-streaming adaptations. Prime knows how to pick its adaptations, from The Man in the High Castle and The Wheel of Time to The Boys and Jack Ryan. It hit the proverbial jackpot with The Summer I Turned Pretty, a YA series adaptation, and continued that momentum with Red, White & Royal Blue, which is based on the best-selling LGBT romance novel by Casey McQuiston. Both of which have young millennials and Gen Zs in a chokehold for helping revive the era of lowbrow rom-coms.
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The directorial debut of Matthew Lopez, Red, White & Royal Blue is the thing of Wattpad fantasies, sprinkled with spice and saccharine sweetness. It’s as angsty as it is addictive, with so much cheesiness that you might need a palate cleanser after. And yet, Red, White & Royal Blue might also be one of the most significant rom-coms of the decade.
Starring Taylor Zakhar Perez as first son Alex Claremont-Diaz and Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Henry of Great Britain, the romance in Red, White & Royal Blue is, to steal Prince Henry’s quote, “as gay as a maypole.” But the charm of the film is that it never presents itself as a gay romance—instead, it’s merely a romance between two “lovesick homosexuals.” And how often do films like that come around? At its core, Red, White & Royal Blue is a story about two terribly whipped lovebirds who just so happen to be of the same sex.
The early 2000s were a turning point for rom-coms, but even then, the queer community was relegated to roles of supporting characters or comedic set pieces. The following decade, queer romances created a space for themselves with profound films like Blue Is the Warmest Color and Call Me By Your Name. But over the years, queer romances have taken the tone of always having to prove themselves. And we understand why. For decades, there was never a time or place for queer romances to share the screen, but now that the doors have opened, it begs the question of what the next phase of these stories should be.
Enter Red, White & Royal Blue, a film that doesn’t try to prove anything at all—and that's the beauty of it. Red, White & Royal Blue is as simple as “boy meets boy.” It doesn’t profess to change the world or preach its place in society. It doesn’t waltz onto the screen with a chip on its shoulder, only the honest earnestness reminiscent of early 2000s rom-coms.
Despite the steamy scenes, Red, White & Royal Blue is as wholesome as they come with its untainted portrayal of queer love. Unlike other films and series that preach representation while simultaneously objectifying its gay characters, Red, White & Royal Blue is out here combatting exploitative depictions of queer love and gay characters. Alex and Henry are sexual but never over-sexualized, their romance is sincere and never toxic, and they enjoy the unconditional support of their friends and families. That alone confirms that Red, White & Royal Blue is a work of fiction, but it’s a piece of fiction that’s as aspirational to queers as The Notebook is to straight people.
Perhaps the best thing to come of Red, White & Royal Blue are the number of youths—LGBT or otherwise—who’ll grow up watching a film that depicts a queer romance without any fanfare or sensationalism. They’re not “other.” They merely are.
That’s not to say it was perfect. By no means was Red, White & Royal Blue flawless. Its pacing and editing could have used some work, but who was really paying attention to that when we were all cooing over this wholesome romance.
Catch Red, White & Royal Blue exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
