This Time Next Year

In This Time Next Year, Sophie Cookson plays Minnie, a woman born on January 1st, convinced she’s been cursed with bad luck from the moment she entered the world. The reason? She wasn’t the first baby of the year. That title went to Quinn (Lucien Laviscount), who was born one minute earlier and won a prize for it. Thirty years later, their paths cross, and, like any rom-com, they go through the usual cycle of love, doubt, misunderstandings, quirky side characters, and missed connections, all wrapped in a story that sticks rigidly to genre conventions.

Directed by Nick Moore, a longtime editor of British family films and rom-coms (Love Actually, Notting Hill, Nanny McPhee, 102 Dalmatians), this is his first time actually directing one. He knows how to shape a rom-com, but he’s working with a basic and often cringeworthy script that doesn’t do him any favors.

Adapted from Sophie Cousens’ novel, the film is as by-the-numbers as they come, frustratingly forcing characters into unnatural behavior just to hit the necessary story beats. Lucien Laviscount’s Quinn suffers the most, written as an almost too perfect guy who somehow falls for Minnie, only to later make out-of-character mistakes for the sake of conflicts because the plot demands it. The side characters are a mixed bag, the moms lean toward the annoying side, while the friend (and ex-boyfriend) manage to land a few laughs.

That said, Cookson and Laviscount look good together and have just enough chemistry to make the romance work, and the ending is appropriately sweet. It’s predictable to a fault, relying on tired rom-com clichés without adding anything new. Fans of the genre might still find comfort in its familiar beats, but for anyone else, it’s just another forgettable love story.

At a glance

2/5

Mixed

Where to watch

🎟️Buy or rentMax

Trailer

Play trailer

If you liked this

‹ ›

The Wedding Banquet

★★★★★

📅 Oct 30

Wicker

★★★★★

Hit Man

★★★★★

Annie Hall

★★★★★

Sentimental Value

★★★★★