Sasha Pieterse Shines Twice, but It’s Over the Top

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• Exploring the Perils of Modern Dating

• A Delicious Third Act Twist

Sometimes, a movie is accidentally overkill. In other instances, it’s safe to say the movie and its makers are well aware of its over-the-topness. From director Jeff Fisher, The Image of You, which is out this week, offers Pretty Litle Liarsstar Sasha Pieterse the perfect follow-up role to her small-screen star-making character — assuming she’s still game for juicy, soapy, gossipy fun. Oh, and add “dark” to the list of adjectives to describe her latest project, which offers a unique little love triangle between twin sisters and a handsome dude (Parker Young) they met through one of those infamous dating apps.

Sure, there are success stories when it comes to Bumble, Hinge, and more — but in other instances, there are horror stories. The Image of You does an adequate job of addressing this epidemic and taking it a step further, but it’s not enough to save the overall silliness that plagues the third act in particular. The storyline digresses significantly from the hit novel by Adele Parks MBE by the end, but other elements are also responsible for hiccups along the way, such as cheesy stylistic choices on the filmmaking front that almost make this feature film feel like an elongated network TV episode.

The Image of You (2024)

2.5/5

Release Date May 10, 2024

Director Jeff Fisher

Runtime 1hr 30min

Pros

• Sasha Pieterse shines
• Killer twist that isn’t spoiled in the trailer
• Knowingly ridiculous

Cons

• Mira Sorvino and Nestor Carbonell are underutilized
• Third act becomes too ridiculous to buy into

Exploring the Perils of Modern Dating

Republic Pictures

Some of us have our best friends to warn us against potentially toxic love interests. But what if it’s a twin sibling by your side instead, providing these kinds of red flags? The responsible and seemingly dignified Anna (Pieterse) is on the dating scene in this digital age, and her rebellious twin Zoe (also Pieterse) is keeping her company along the way. Anna meets nice guy Nick online, and he seems equally nice in person. This has all the makings of a romantic comedy, right? That’s the point, at first.

But then, like many modern-day films, the genre shifts — to something more sinister. Why is Anna and Zoe’s dad, David (Nestor Carbonell), looking at Zoe weirdly when she pays him a visit? Zoe stalks Nick’s profile and finds inconsistencies with his public image — is that the central conflict here? Nick, the new Tinder Swindler? Actually, as the promotional trailer seems to reveal, Nick remains a sort of dueling protagonist alongside the twins, as his life is slowly invaded by Zoe, to the point where just the two of them are meeting in private, without Anna even knowing…

Related 10 Movies That Offer Terrible Dating Advice While movies like Bridget Jones’s Diary have become romantic staples, they also offer pretty bad advice for anyone in a real relationship.

A Delicious Third Act Twist

Republic Pictures

Also along for the ride is Mira Sorvino as Nestor’s wife and stepmom to Anna and Zoe. Sorvino, let’s not forget, is an Academy Award winner for her role in Woody Allen’s film Mighty Aphrodite. It’s too bad, then, that she is vastly underused in The Image of You, only appearing in a handful of scenes as Alexia. It wouldn’t come as a shock to learn that this supporting character plays a more vital role in Parks’ source-material novel, which went on to become an international bestseller.

Carbonell also seems to be merely going through the motions, a veteran actor who has been thriving ever since his scene-stealing turn as Richard Alpert in ABC’s Emmy-winning series Lost. More recently on the small screen, he’s been a knockout on Apple TV+’s The Morning Show and also on FX’s Shogun, which is nearing a second-second renewal. As the conflicted father in The Image of You, David has the honor of revealing at least one shell-shocking twist that viewers might not see coming, as it isn’t revealed in any of the trailers. After the big reveal, however, the movie falters and makes a few plot choices that might just leave you rolling your incredulous eyes, even for a blatantly melodramatic movie like this.

Related Pretty Little Liars: Every Person That Was A, Explained There was more twists and turns than many could count on Pretty Little Liars. Here are the who are the major three As and who helped them.

Until then, some hot and steamy sex scenes help pass the time between Nick and at least one of the twins. Watch as Nick’s co-worker buddy Hal (Ben Milliken) even walks in on Nick getting down and dirty in an elevator, with his female counterpart looking over his shoulder at Hal square in the eyes with a sort of “yeah, so?” look to her. There are a handful of outrageous moments like this that will be best consumed with a rowdy group of friends by your side, but it’s not enough to keep the cinephiles chattering about it all after the credits roll.

From Republic Pictures, The Image of You is now playing in select theaters and available to buy on digital.

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