The teen Spanish film ‘Anonymously Yours’ (Anomima) by Netflix is probably more fun than the ‘To All The Boys…’ trilogy. That needed to be said first off, lest you lose interest and not read the whole thing. Just so you know that this is a good chick flick to watch on the weekend. The story is simple, the teens a little more relatable and their life doesn’t have big screen drama and cliches.
Directed by Maria Torres, written by Alexandro Aldrete and Daniela Gomez, the script steers away from the classic ‘opposites attract’ and gives viewers a pair where both the girl and boy are nerds and unpopular. It starts off a little slow, but then the pace picks up and stays at an entertaining level, without dipping much.
Plot overview – When Valeria receives a text from an unknown guy, the two begin to chat without revealing who they are, deciding to remain anonymous. The two start crushing on each other, without realizing that they are classmates and meet on a regular basis at school. Anybody who has ever been on chat sites or even dating sites for that matter, would understand the skepticism of two smart kids not wanting to divulge any personal details about each other. Annie Cabello and Ralf Poderoso as the lead pair are adorable, their chemistry lights up the screen and captures the essence of young love well. The strength of the script lies in the fact that both characters aren’t lovelorn teens. Instead, they are goal-oriented youngsters who have priorities in life apart from mooning over their crush.
Since the setting is in a private school, it is implied that most kids are rich, which gives the makers the excuse to pepper the film with absurdly lavish teen parties. Alex however is from a humble family, raised by a single mother and is at the fancy school on scholarship. But the class/wealth divide between Alex and Valeria is never brought up or made a cause of concern, which was a refreshing change. Both set of parents are more obsessed with what their kid is going to pursue after school, and care very little for who they are dating, as long as their future plans aren’t getting derailed.
The climax is measured, even though you can see what’s going to happen from miles away. But the makers don’t go the cliche route of most teen rom-com and revealing what they do different would make it a big spoiler. So let’s just say, there’s no cheesy drama.
It’s a 7.5/10 from me.