Review of The One I Love (2014) by Alice S — 18 Jun 2016

A floundering couple go away on a weekend retreat where a hexed cottage miraculously bestows them with their ideal versions of each other. Sophie's ideal Ethan exercises, doesn't wear glasses, and has a cooler beachier hairstyle. Ethan's ideal Sophie is always sunny and smiling, doesn't nag him about his poor eating habits, and is content to busy herself whenever he gets distracted and disappears from their romantic getaway. Real Sophie and Ethan agree to spend fifteen minutes each with their respective fantasy beaux just to figure out what's happening, but like in any tense relationship drama, greener grass begets green-eyed jealousy.

The suspenseful thriller aspect of this film does indeed provide eerie WTF moments and threats of danger, and I thought these perfect mirages would be metaphors for those six insignificant things we'd like to change about our partners, but then *spoilers*, the already surreal movie takes an awkward dip into surreal reality, revealing that the mirages are actually living people - past clients whose partners chose the better versions of themselves and have now been coached and nip/tucked to imitate new clients in an attempt to escape the cottage. Dark and mindfucky metaphor of how we change ourselves to adapt to new lovers whom we may not even be that into, but the rules of this satirical universe aren't entirely elucidated, so the plot falls apart from there.