Just Friends is a 2018 Dutch romantic comedy directed by Annemarie van de Mond. The film was originally created for television and stars Josha Stradowski as Jorgis, a young man from a wealthy family who is grieving the loss of his father, and Majd Mardo as Yad, a college dropout who has returned home to stay with his Syrian family. The two meet and begin dating but struggle to reconcile their backgrounds. The film is an exploration of not only their romantic relationship, but of the differences in their socioeconomic status and cultural experiences.
This film is quite the mixed bag, but most of the mix is good. The relationship between Jorgis and Yad feels genuine throughout. Any moment they’re on screen together is an absolute delight. The chemistry between these two is palpable. The film’s strongest moments come when their relationship is centered. Unfortunately, they aren’t the only two characters.
The film spends a lot of time contrasting Jorgis and Yad’s relationship with their families. Jorgis is struggling with the death of his father, unable to process it with his emotionally distant mother. Yad struggles to live up the expectations of his own family, feeling like they will always be disappointed with his choices. The coldness of Jorgis’s family and the closeness of Yad’s is a theme throughout the film.
Near the end this theme starts to fall flat as characters in both families quickly flip personalities. This is likely due the fact that the film was originally made for television. TV movies have much stricter guidelines when it comes to runtime since they must fit into a network time slot. As a result, everything outside of Jorgis and Yad’s relationship feels rushed.
Just Friends is sweet film about a young relationship, dealing with loss, and navigating complicated families. While its themes aren’t fully fleshed out, the central relationship makes the film a great feel-good watch. It does feature homophobic slurs and themes and some sexually explicit content. If that doesn’t bother you and you’re interested in a sweet young love story, then definitely check out Just Friends, streaming on Amazon Prime.
I appreciate the depth of this review and your acknowledgment of the constraints of different media mediums