Yes or No

My review of Yes or No is going to focus mainly around one question: is this movie cute enough for me to overlook its various flaws?

Yes or No is the love story of two young women, Pie and Kim. They meet when they are assigned as roommates at their university. While Pie initially dislikes Kim, the pair eventually become friends as well as tentative romantic partners. Their budding relationship is impeded by the societal and familial heteronormative pressures.

The main word I would use to describe Yes or No is cliche. This movie is romantic comedy 101. When Pie and Kim first meet, the camera switches to slow motion and romantic music. This highly telegraphed meet-cute is followed immediately by a piece of physical comedy. That sets the tone for the movie. Yes or No revels in cliche.

I’m of two minds about this. As I mentioned in my review for Imagine Me and You, I enjoy applying standard, heterosexual cliches to queer story lines. It makes me feel included or whatever. But there are just so many moments in Yes or No that are too cheesy. Even the fact that this is a WLW movie doesn’t make the dated tropes Yes or No employs feel fresh.

Yes or No also has one hell of a pacing problem. Thrice during this movie I assumed it was nearly over. Pie and Kim would have some sort of misunderstanding or falling out that could be described as the third-act break-up. Much as Yes or No seems to love cliche, it doesn’t seem to get that such moments should actually happen in the third act.

Pie and Kim’s relationship is being constantly set back by events followed by a happy reunion only for the cycle to repeat. This makes the movie feel like it drags. Each time it happened, I also became more aware of the fact that they were quickly running out of reasons why these two characters haven’t kissed yet. The only reason Pie and Kim aren’t together by the hour mark is because the movie wanted to stretch itself to two hours. It does that by egregious use of dramatic arguments, misunderstandings and general, misplaced angst.

What I love about Yes or No is the same thing that bugs me about it, it’s juvenile. With its young protagonists, cliche story and very non-sexual romance, Yes or No feels like a movie aimed at an audience of around 13 years of age. As I am not 13, it means this movie isn’t for me. However, I also think that’s great. There are so few WLW movies that are appropriate to be watched by that age group, let alone ones that feel actively designed for a younger audience. I absolutely adore the idea of young, queer girls getting the same fix of cheesy, idealized romance and bad story telling from Yes or No as their heterosexual peers do from every goddamn movie and TV show aimed at teenagers. Yes or No feels like a movie you’d watch at a middle-school sleepover. You’d talk about crushes and squeal in delight the first time Pie and Kim hold hands.

Ultimately, Pie and Kim’s relationship is sweet enough and I root for them enough for this movie to work. But I do have problems with the love story. Mainly, my main problem is Pie, who kinda sucks. She’s initially rude to Kim because Kim presents as a tomboy. She continues to have something of a cruel streak throughout their budding relationship. It also seems like Kim is always the one who shows vulnerability and takes the risks needed to make this relationship work. But, at the end of the day, I love Kim so much as a character. I feel protective of her, even. So, as long as Pie makes her happy, so does their relationship. Frankly, Pie and Kim not the cinematic WLW relationship I’d most like to see a whole trilogy about but I’m also absolutely willing to let Yes or No’s sequels change my mind about that.

If you are an older or significantly jaded WLW, Yes or No is probably not for you. It’s juvenile, cliche and all around too simple. However, it’s also so, so cute. Each time I went to write a critique of this movie while I was watching it, something cute would happen and I’d almost forget what flaw I was meant to be jotting down. I can’t say it’s objectively good but I’m not going to hate on it either. Yes or No is such a rare WLW movie. It has two whole sequels and is something appropriate for a younger audience. I absolutely support both those rarities. Until the WLW film genre reaches a point where neither of those aspects are remarkable, I am not going to be too harsh on one of the few films that does have such things going for it.

Overall rating: 6.2/10

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