I am not really a romance genre type of person, I find them a bit cookie-cutter and repetitive, so when I saw this on Netflix going down a different route I wanted to give it a go. But as I watched I wondered how they were going to end it, because in some ways I could see it going down the everyone must have children and children are good route which thankfully, it didn’t.

Natalie is a college graduate who is about to embark on her life. She has two friends that we know of called Gabe and Cara and she is constantly going on about her five-year plan and how she wants to create incredible things with her art. She is ready to move to LA with Cara when one night a one night stand scenario with Gabe happens and suddenly the world is split into two alternate universes, one where she ends up pregnant with Gabe’s baby and one where she doesn’t.

In these two universes we see how Natalie’s life could’ve played out from this one moment. On the one hand baby-less Natalie is able to go to LA and get her dream job only to realise that it doesn’t always work out and sometimes what you think your plans should be in life aren’t exactly what is reality. While baby Natalie moves back with her parents, lives with Gabe for a while and begins coparenting the child, which brings up a whole different world of issues including sleep deprivation, coparenting with a guy that she truly loves but cannot give herself to because she’s worried it will ruin their friendship and what they have with their child, and feeling like she’s missed out on the LA life that she could’ve had.

The way that this film is made is brilliant because you can always tell which scenario you’re watching, whether you’re in the baby timeline or the Los Angeles timeline. It’s a brilliant look at life and how no matter what happens that’s the path you’re meant to be on and while it may not always be blue skies and rainbows it’s the right path for you and will always work out in the end.

That’s what I love about this film, it didn’t try and push the whole she had a baby and her life is ruined or she had her baby and it was the right decision, instead it showed that regardless of what happens to you and the choices you make it will all work out in the end and be okay. It’s lovely to watch because especially when you’re in your early 20s so much of life is happening around you that every choice you make you second-guess because you want to make sure that it’s sending you down the path that’s right for you, but what if every path is right for you and it doesn’t matter as much as we think? Whatever happens is meant to happen and you’ve just got to get on with it and deal with it and I think that’s what this movie told me, regardless of what happens, that’s what is meant to be.

You really connect with the characters in this movie and because you see two alternate universes you really see how those choices that Natalie makes affect the people around her in both good and bad ways. I really enjoyed this film and I highly recommend it because it’s not preachy, it doesn’t say one thing is better than the other it just says whatever will be will be and that’s ok. And I absolutely love that writing this review now I have goosebumps thinking back to this film because it touches me so deeply and I think anyone who is about to embark on their adult life should watch it, especially young women, just to understand that regardless of what life throws at you, you will be okay.

What do you think of Look Both Ways?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding