Sometimes, it’s O.K. to see a film with a large group of people versus in the privacy of your own home. Crowd reactions CAN make or break the enjoyment of a film that you would have a differing opinion of, and for me a prime example of this is director Kat Coiro’s (Marry Me) latest with You, Me & Tuscany.
Halle Bailey plays Anna, a young woman living in New York from gig to gig as a professional house sitter. When her luck hits rock bottom, she decides to take a trip to Italy on an unused plane ticket after meeting a man from Tuscany in Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor) who is from there and encourages her to spread her wings. After realizing she has gone there in the middle of a huge festival and has nowhere to stay, she ends up as a squatter at Matteo’s house. When she is discovered there by his family, she is mistaken for his surprise fiancé, and Anna gets caught up in the biggest lie she could possibly be apart of while starting to fall for Matteo’s brother, Michael (Regé-Jean Page).
My first comments to the studio rep were “cheesy and formulaic,” but right after that came “… but cute”. This is a rom-com in EVERY sense of the word (down to the “we hate each other, but we all know where this is going” meet cute as well as the returning-home-prodigal-son-to-complete-the-love-triangle pieces), but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Sometimes, a romantic comedy is just a romantic comedy (just ask Hallmark), and this film will find its audience fairly quickly.
Now back to how I started this review: had I not watched You, Me & Tuscany in a packed theater, it definitely would have fallen further down my 2026 list than it has. From having an entire row taken up by a local book club to a genuine mix of humanity all around me, I found myself caught up in their reactions of all types, nodding and smiling more than once. Even though the chemistry between Bailey and Page could have been stronger, her chemistry with the rest of the cast more than makes up for the enjoyment factor here.
This is the type of film that may not get that “pop” at the box office upon release, but when it hits streaming, I feel like this would be fit for group nights in or sleepovers for the teen set. Even though there are some mixed messages here on the value of hard work versus squatting in someone’s house, lying to their entire family, and falling in love with your fake fiancé’s brother will make it all work out (that could be just Old Man Rob talking here), You, Me & Tuscany is a fun way to spend a couple of hours with some popcorn and a blanket with friends.