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Valentina, a young pianist, moves into a new flat with a looming audition in three weeks, but finds herself unprepared for the horrific, frightening sounds emanating from her next-door neighbor David’s apartment, a game-maker who ironically hates noise. As the two clash over the disturbance, they gradually warm up to each other’s personalities, sparking a unique romance as they court each other, albeit solely through their paper-thin wall.
Director by Patricia Font and written by Marta Sánchez, the 2024 Spanish romantic-comedy “Pared con pared” (English title: Love, Divided) is a remake of the 2015 French film “Blind Date”. While I haven’t seen the French original, the basic plot of the movie does sound fun, however, actors Aitana and Fernando Guallar who plays leads Valentina and David, just don’t click onscreen like you’d expect them to. Aitana is a singer and music composer, with a fantastic voice, and the piano music in the film is excellent too, but her acting skills don’t exude the comedic charm expected from her character. And in a minor irritating detail – her hair looks completely fake.
The first thirty minutes of “Pared con pared” (Love, Divided) are quite entertaining, but from thereon, the film gets very silly, which is fine for a romantic-comedy, but the leads aren’t able to pull it off. The personality clash between the leads is intriguing; both are not particularly social and are single-mindedly dedicated to their goals. However, while David rarely leaves his house and is obsessed with creating a complex new game, Valentina regularly ventures out for her part-time job as a waitress. You cannot help but feel that with a different cast and better direction, this movie would’ve been a lot more fun to watch.
The climax is surprisingly un-clichéd; the typical “grand gesture” trope, like rushing to a train station or airport, is absent because David never leaves home. However, the leads end up doing something completely unrealistic, which might have been funny if the film had been engaging up to that point, but instead, it just feels nonsensical. Maybe you’ll enjoy this title more than I did.
Rating: 4 on 10. You can stream “Pared con pared” on Netflix.
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