Movie Review- Red, White and Royal Blue

OH. MY. GOD.

Y'all please tell me why I've been waiting to read this book until now?! It's been sitting in my tbr for so long. I knew I wanted to read it but I somehow kept reading other books instead of this one. But when I realized that they were releasing a movie for this book, I decided to watch the movie first and then read the book because we all know that usually the story ends up being changed a little in the movies. Every time I read a book before watching a movie, I end up getting disappointed. So, this time I decided to watch the movie first before reading the book and I am super happy with my decision because I loved this movie so much. I have already rewatched it and will probably keep rewatching it every few days until I get bored lmao.

Movie name: Red, White and Royal Blue
Director: Matthew Lopez
Release Date: 11 August 2023
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Videos Trailer: Red, White and Royal Blue
Running Time: 1 Hour 58 Minutes
Genre: Romantic/Comedy

CAST

Prince Henry: Nicholas Galitzine
Alex Claremont-Diaz: Taylor Zakhar Perez
President Ellen: Uma Thurman
Nora Holleran: Rachel Hilson
Zahra Bankston: Sarah Shahi
Princess Beatrice: Ellie Bamber
Amy: Aneesh Sheth
Percy Okonjo: Malcolm Atobrah
Miguel Ramos: Juan Castano
Senator Oscar Diaz: Clifton Collins Jr.

STORYLINE

Based on the Casey McQuiston Novel of the same name, this story focuses on Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son of the president of the United States and his rivalry with the young prince, Henry. After causing a major uproar at the older Prince's Brother's wedding, the two are forced to avoid a National incident by up-playing their non existent friendship with a goodwill visit to the UK. Their rivalry soon turns into a forced friendship and then blossoms into something even more. The two try to keep their relationship a secret despite their highly public lives amid his mother's re-election campaign as the first female President.

MY REVIEW

It has barely been 15 days (This is when I wrote the post, not when I published it hehe) since this movie came out and I have already watched it 3 times. Just so you know, I ain't gonna stop rewatching it until I get super bored. This is the first time it has happened to me. I'm literally obsessed with it and can't wait to read the book now. I know a lot of people kept complaining about it not being good because they changed a lot of stuff and removed some important characters but I loved it since I am clueless about the novel.

As a beta reader, writer, editor and proofreader I always end up examining everything carefully so I could make out that some stuff was missing and also from my previous experience of other books and movies, I knew they changed a lot of scenes and removed some scenes but I think that's obvious. The books are always so detailed and movies don't have enough run time to go into all the details, that's why they try to cut and add stuff so that the movies make sense to the people who haven't read the books.

I have heard that June was one of the important characters but I got no clue who she is. I don't know if my thoughts about the movie will change after reading the book but all I know right now is that I am in love with it. I mean I don't think it would change that much, to be very honest. Like always, I will just be like, 'oh, I wish they could add this scene too'. But I think that's it.

Anyway, I'll make a separate post comparing the book and the movie once I finish reading it.

Oh, and apparently this movie was three hours long but they cut out a lot of scenes. Everyone is begging them to post the full version and I am praying to god that they do because OH MY GOD. ONE MORE HOUR OF HENRY AND ALEX?!

Absolute heaven.

They did upload a deleted Cornetto scene which I think was from the book but I figured where and when it took place and it was honestly cute af. The video was uploaded on the official Instagram page for Red, White and Royal Blue.

I first saw Nicholas in Purple Hearts and absolutely loved him. I recognized Taylor from The Kissing Booth and honestly? I found him attractive but didn't like him because I shipped Elle and Noah. Now that I have grown up, I realized that the first part of the movie was decent, I liked it but didn't like the second and never watched the third one lol.

But after this movie? I am obsessed with these two and want to apologize to Taylor for not liking him before😂The only reason I didn't like him was because I hate love triangles and automatically end up not liking the third person messing up the relationship between the two and Noah had Elle first.

Anyway, I am in love with the royal tropes and binge read or watch anything related to this trope. If you got any royal trope book, show or movie suggestions, drop em below! You might also say that I am being biased because this book has a royal setting but from everyone else's reaction, I've realized that I ain't the only person obsessed with this movie.

Not only Taylor and Nicholas, but everyone else in this movie has done a great job. Of course, Taylor and Nicholas were on another level but I loved everyone else too. I even liked the antagonist and that's pretty rare for me lol. His and Alex's Spanish accent was top notch. But mine is so bad, I need to improve it👀

The setting, the story, the characters, the acting, everything was absolutely perfect.
The chemistry between Alex and Henry was phenomenal. You could literally feel their love through the screen. I think this is one of the reasons I liked this movie and Heartstopper (review coming soon😉) so much. You can see how pure their love is and the chemistry between the lead actors is outstanding.

They went through so much, from hiding their relationship to coming out and facing the bullies but they never gave up on each other. Their love and connection was so strong and pure. I also love how it doesn't involve cheating and one of them being jealous, I mean maybe they might've been t a little jealous but I enjoy it lol.

I think anyone who looks at Alex and Henry can definitely see the chemistry between them.

Henry fell first but Alex fell harder💙

I think all the edits about these two was one of the reasons I got so obsessed with them. People are so talented!

The edits with One Direction and Taylor swift songs are on next level. Comment below if you want me to send em to you! I have them all saved lmao.

For some reason I have never liked Taylor Swift and avoided listening to her songs but all the RWRB edits with her songs have made me obsessed with like 4-5 songs of hers lol. I might have to check the rest of them now. Honestly, Alex and Henry own 1D and TS songs. Those songs are literally made for these two.

This scene right here? It's my absolute favourite. I can watch it on repeat all day. Even while watching the movie, I replayed it like 5 times. This is honestly the purest scene in the whole movie. The way both of them needed each other was so cute. Like they were literally dying without each other and when Henry heard Alex's voice, it felt like he could finally breathe again.

Once they ran up to each other and held each other so tightly, it felt like everything around them disappeared and they were the only ones that existed.

And the way Alex says, 'I'll break the sound barrier for you?' Swoon.

When they were on their own, they were falling apart but together they were so strong, they were each other's rock. Henry was always so insecure, had low confidence and was afraid of the consequences but he finally fought for his love and happiness with Alex next to him.

I mean, we love to see it.

Anyway, back to the story. I promise I'll make it all spoiler free lmao.

Henry is a British Prince and Alex is the first son of the president of United States. Henry and Alex have a rivalry going on ever since they met for the first time. Due to a misunderstanding both of them think that the other one is snobby, rude, uptight and hates them.

Things take a turn when the famous cake incident occurs during Henry's older brother's wedding. A worker from the palace leaks the pictures to the media and it becomes a huge scandal, which I really don't understand, to be honest. Yes, these two are famous but like they lost their balance and the cake fell, big deal.

Despite it being absolutely hilarious, it pissed off the members of the palace and the white house. They asked Henry and Alex to do interviews and pretend to be old friends. The two had to make a few public appearance where they had to pretend to like each other.

Eventually they started texting each other everyday and became good friends. Their conversations were super cute and hilarious. They were both flirting with each other without even realizing it hehe.

Alex then invited Henry to his New Years Party and that's where the magic happened✨

The New Year's Party scene made me so happy but it also broke my heart at the same time. I loved it because even though Alex is known as the playboy and the girls kept hitting on him the whole night, my boy didn't care about it. All he cared about was spending time with Henry and he didn't even realize how clingy (in a good way) he was being.

It broke my heart because I could feel Henry's heart breaking. He was like this awkward introvert kid who doesn't know how to really enjoy his life. He watched other people have the time of their lives and felt so out of place. Like I get him because he had to follow the protocol and maintain his image. It felt like he finally realized that he wasn't really living his life. He tried so hard to fit in but no matter what he did that night, he still didn't feel like he could fit in.

And the cherry on top was when random girls pulled Alex in for a kiss at midnight. Henry felt like he didn't have a chance with Alex and ran away.

Later, Alex found him outside where Henry tried to tell him that he is gay but our goofy boy is completely clueless. Henry got frustrated and kissed him before realizing his mistake and disappeared without another word or giving Alex a chance to speak.

After he ran away, Henry didn't answer Alex's calls or texts for months.

Meanwhile, Alex tried out new campaign strategies to help his mother win the elections.

A few days later, they end up meeting at an event where Alex confronts him and in Alex's words, they end up doing very dirty things😉.

They decide to keep things casual until a few months later when they end up catching feelings for each other. I don't wanna reveal everything so I am going to be super vague. Henry breaks up with Alex and returns home.

Alex, not wanting to give up, flies to London to confront him. They talk about their feelings and fears and end up getting back together. Everything feels perfect but of course, how is that possible? How can our boys get their happily ever after so easily? Because the next day, the details about their relationship get leaked and they are forbidden from contacting each other.

I honestly don't understand why people are so interested in other people's lives. Like let them be. Why do you need to act like a bitch? This is one of the reasons I always say that I don't wanna be famous because every move you make is seen by the world and you're always judged because of it. As if I don't have enough people in my life who judge me for every decision that I make🙄

Like I get it that they are both famous figures but they have the right to live their lives the way they want to live. They shouldn't live it the way people want them to live it and I honestly loved Alex's speech so much. I want you to go watch the whole thing, that's why I didn't put anything about it here but I know you are going to love it too.

And that's the time when they go through all the problems as their fears come to life and their relationship goes through a test.

During this time, both of them discovered things about themselves, found the strength they didn't know they had, discovered different feeling for each other, learnt to live for themselves instead of trying to make others happy and finally became one.

There were so many lines in this movie that I absolutely loved but don't wanna put everything out here for y'all so that you can go and watch the movie hehe.

I was so proud of them for the way they handled things and how well they developed as an individual. I am in the middle of that process too and I hope that I can succeed in it like they did.

This line by Henry was so wonderful. All his life, he had followed the royal protocol and instead of doing what he wanted, he did everything they wanted him to do to maintain his 'perfect prince' image, and made him believe that he belonged to the public and not himself.

He was so done with it all but never really thought he could achieve that freedom. But Alex made him believe that he was so much more than just a public figure and he had the right to live his life the way he wanted to live it.

His love for Alex helped him achieve that freedom he so badly craved. His love for Alex also made him fight for their relationship and to say 'fuck you' to his 'perfect image' so that he could finally be able to live peacefully the way he wanted to live.

He finally started to live for himself and do what made him happy. I absolutely loved how Alex made him so strong just by being by his side.

The scene from the above picture is the first time Henry smiled ever since the news about their relationship got leaked. The only reason they could meet was because of Shaan and Zahra's efforts and support.

I absolutely loved Zahra's character. She was an absolute queen, super savage, sassy, hilarious and a loving human. She is one of the goofy characters that you can never hate.

And, in Alex's words, 'Oh! You would never believe who Zahra's dating!'

I ain't telling you though, you gotta watch the movie to find out😉

But to be honest, I think both Alex and Henry's staff were the reason they got together because they kept helping them meet each other secretly and stuff. I loved them so much lol.

I love these two so much and can honestly keep ranting about the movie but I'm pretty sure I repeatedly kept talking about the same stuff so I am going to stop now and ask you to watch the movie instead.
Let me know if you like it or if you are planning to watch it!

And, if you feel like reading the book before or after watching the movie, you can buy it on Amazon:

Red, white and Royal Blue OR Red, White & Royal Blue: Movie Tie-In Edition (Affiliate links).

Oh, while I was writing this post, I ended up rewatching Heartstopper season 1 & 2 but by the time I reached this part, I finished it and am currently rewatching RWRB for the fourth time and don't regret it at all.
I don't really care what others say about the movie but you can already tell from this long ass post, that I absolutely love it.

Oh, and if you've read the whole post and reached this part, I appreciate and love you so much💕

Thank you💘

See y'all soon with a new post!💙