As much as it often pains admirers of the arts to think about it, cinema is bound to industry. Box office dollars, budgets, and pay disputes are at the heart of Hollywood and the coverage that follows it. Similarly, the low-budget film has always been a source of interest, wildly when a small movie succeeds. For instance, John Carpenter’s original Halloween film was made for a fraction of what the franchise is worth now. If only every film were as lucky. Budget is not an outright indication of the quality of a movie, but it can help. 2023’s One True Loves is one film that would have likely benefitted from a bit more money.  

 On paper, the film should have had all the pieces required for moderate success, at the very least. The film is based on a book by Taylor Jenkins Reid, the best-selling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and the notable Daisy Jones and the Six, the latter of which has been adapted into a hit television series. Reid is also given credit for the screenplay. One True Loves was directed by Andy Fickman, whose resume includes successful family and teen movies like The Game Plan and She’s The Man. The film also stars Simu Liu, star of Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the upcoming Barbie movie, and Phillipa Soo of Hamilton fame.  

The film follows a young woman, Emma (Soo), who marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse (Luke Bracey). The two leave behind their small hometown and travel the world together, writing about and photographing their adventures. Jesse takes an assignment in Alaska, becoming missing, and is assumed dead after a helicopter crash. After spending difficult years moving on, Emma becomes engaged to her high school best friend Sam (Liu). Shortly after the engagement, Jesse reappears. Emma must decide which man she will choose.  

Of course, there are several things that can go wrong in the process of creating a film. Cinema is a collaborative art and is thus often difficult to expound upon and qualify because so many moving parts are required to make moving pictures. Problems can be difficult to single out; successes can be attributed to the wrong department. In the case of One True Loves, the problem is most likely money, which is a puzzle considering the credentials of the people involved.  

There must have been talented folks in every department, perhaps without the resources to shine. One hopes that the alternative, laziness or lack of concern, would not be the reason for the subpar quality of almost every element of the movie. For example, one montage meant to communicate that Jesse and Emma are traveling the world includes screengrabs of Emma’s blog. The screengrabs are a poor imitation of what actual websites look like, so their inclusion is quite jarring. Additionally, the music feels insincere and often fails to match its accompanying scene. The cinematography is lackluster, and the script is bland and unemotional. Even the production design was thought about and executed within minutes.  

Rating: 1/5

Again, budget is no indicator of quality. Plenty of films with hundreds of millions of dollars to work with have been awful. Plenty of films with meager budgets showcase cinematic brilliance and bring in box office dollars. One True Love has a premise that could have been developed into something mildly exciting and touching at worst. Perhaps a bit more money would have done the final product well, but we’ll never know. It may have been a moot point, anyway.