The Right One is not the movie you expect it to be. I’m not saying that in a bad way, though I admit that after watching the trailer I was both super interested and super confused. What I found from the movie, however, was the kind of story I didn’t know I wanted, and more importantly, the kind of story I didn’t even understand I needed.
We had a chance to talk to leading lady Cleopatra Coleman about the movie, breaking the mold when it comes to storytelling, what drew her to this role, and, of course, representation.
As I mentioned before, there is nothing familiar about this movie, and in a way, that appreciation is also why Coleman was so drawn to the character: “It’s not a typical rom-com, that’s why I signed up for it because it was so fresh and unique.”
Not so much that you won’t enjoy it, though. There’s a lot of rom-com in this, well, rom-com. “It ticks off all the boxes of what a rom-com is supposed to do, as far as satisfaction, and it really makes you feel good when you watch it, but it’s also really unique,” Coleman added, only to then bring up one of the reasons why it is.
“I’ve never seen a rom-com talk about mental health in the way The Right One Does, and I thought it was very refreshing, and much needed.”
Right off the bat, there’s so much to discuss in this, and so much about it that should absolutely make you want to check out the movie. But perhaps the most important part of what Coleman pointed out is the mental health aspect of this movie, and the way the movie deals with it in a way that feels anything but familiar or cliched.
Because yes, the movie is “so smart, and it makes people feel so good, it’s something we need to see right now,” but in a break from typical stereotypes “it talks about mental health in a really, really fresh way.” I wouldn’t want to ruin the fun of the movie for you, but like Coleman pointed out, I was struck, as I watched, by how different this movie felt, how real.
How necessary.
That isn’t the only way in which the movie hits all the right notes, “it also has an interracial relationship in which the movie doesn’t have anything to do with that, it doesn’t have to, it’s just two people, and it’s about their character, about who they are.”
Imagine just seeing yourself in a movie and have that movie not be defined by that. I barely can. And I should be able to, shouldn’t I?
Coleman agrees. “It shouldn’t be such a revolutionary idea, that I don’t look like what you’re supposed to seeing.”
But it is, and that, plus the mental health aspects already make this movie so much more than most rom-coms we’ve gotten to see in like …ever. And it makes Coleman just the right leading lady for this moment in time, these kinds of movies.
“I’m very happy to be able to play this role and for people like us to be able to see ourselves reflected in that, it’s so important,” she shared with us, all while explaining that the reason she was attracted to this role is that she’s trying to find roles that are inspiring, that say more.
Finally, if you haven’t been convinced yet, consider this. The Right One is a rom-com, yes, but it’s one that, in Coleman’s own words “has a platonic friendship at the core.”
Wait …what, you’re probably asking yourself now. How does that work? Is it even a rom-com if the main relationship is a platonic one? Well, it does have a romantic aspect. And it is a comedy. So ..yes. It’s just …yes, let us say it again, your typical anything.
Coleman continued, explaining it better than I could. “Yes, it is romantic, and you hope that there will be something really romantic afterwards,” but that’s not the focus of the movie, and that’s huge.
“The heart of all relationships is really about friendship, and to be able to portray that in the film, actually accidentally, ended up being sort of revolutionary.”
Just as pretty much everything about this movie, and it’s leading lady, if you ask us about it. And that’s one of the main reasons to give it a chance.
Lionsgate and Grindstone Entertainment Group, a Lionsgate Company, will release the romantic comedy film THE RIGHT ONE on February 9, 2021 in the U.S.