A Certainly Unique Love Triangle: A SPOILER Review On ‘The Half Of It’

My younger siblings and I have started a tradition since quarantine started. Every night, we would watch at least one horror movie before going to bed. As we sat scrolling mindlessly through Netflix, a particular film caught my eye. The synopsis read:

“When smart but cash-strapped Ellie Chu agrees to write a love letter for a jock she doesn’t expect to become his best friend – or fall for his crush.”

Oh my gosh! Can you spell telenovela? So I asked my siblings, “Are we going to take a break from all the blood and guts that we all love so much to watch this romance movie?” We clicked play.

The film follows Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis), a Chinese girl who moved at a young age to a small town in America with her parents. Unfortunately, her mother passed away and now Ellie is stuck helping her father (Collin Chou) run his job at the local train station. When she arrives at school, we learn that the students only know Ellie because they pay her to write papers for them, which she uses to help pay off bills and such.

Fast-forward to how this whole sha-bang starts.

Football player Paul (Daniel Diemer) is in love with the school’s most beautiful girl, Aster Flores (Alexxie Lemire), who is dating the most popular guy in school. Aster is associated with the “cool kids.” However, we come to find out that Ms. Flores doesn’t care about popularity and that she is truly a deep and caring person. (Shocker!) At first, Ellie rejects the idea of writing a love letter, but she realizes she needs the money urgently, so she gives into Paul’s plan.

Ellie begins the first letter with something small. While watching a classic black and white film with her dad, she directly uses one of the romantic quotes said by the main character. Aster’s response surprises her as she catches on that Ellie plagiarized the quote. This sparks amazement and awe. Ellis continues writing and slowly, a beautiful connection blossoms. The two talk endlessly about art, novels, poetry, etc. They connect on a level that is obvious they haven’t reached with anyone else.

Paul finally wants to meet with Aster in person even though Ellie is reluctant. Their first date doesn’t go horribly wrong but it definitely wasn’t great. The whole encounter is awkward and tense since Paul doesn’t know what to say and Aster is questioning how they connect so much over letters but no spark in person.

Ellie continues to help Paul by writing to Aster and training him in conversational skills for their next date. The two form a bond as they spend almost every waking moment together. They bike/walk to and from school; Ellie learns about Paul’s family business in making sausage, and Paul learns about Ellie’s father’s depression and lack of motivation to find a job that he loves.

They vent to each other how they both have clear visions of what they want to do in life — Ellie wants to go off to college away from home and Paul wants to revamp his family business — but that their parents are holding them back and/or they’re afraid to hurt their feelings. As time passes, the audience can tell that Paul is more interested in hanging out and learning more about Ellie than actually getting with Aster.

This is the part where things get even more complicated. Paul and Ellie go to a school party where Ellie gets drunk. Paul brings her to his home where he takes care of her. He leaves for football practice the next morning, and Aster comes over to his house where she finds Ellie. Ellie explains the two are just studying together and Aster asks if Ellie wants to hang out. The two spend the day by Aster taking Ellie to her secret spot in town. They cover subjects ranging from their deepest desires in life to their fears. Aster also reveals that her boyfriend might propose to her soon where they indulge in an even deeper conversation. This solidifies Ellie’s feelings for Aster.

Aster visits Paul right after where they share a kiss. Ellie sees this and gets the courage to apply to the university she’s been putting off.

The next day, Paul scores the school’s first touchdown in over a decade at the football game. In celebration afterwards, he tries to kiss Ellie. Aster walks in on them and Ellie rejects Paul. He realizes that she actually loves Aster and not him. Paul hurts Ellie by saying being a gay is a sin.

Towards the end of the film, Aster’s boyfriend Trig Carson (Wolfgang Novogratz) proposes to her at mass where most people in town (including Ellie and Paul) are in attendance. Ellie objects to the proposal where she says a motivational speech about love. She reveals that she wrote the letters, not Paul; and Aster storms out of the church angrily.

The movie’s final scene ends with Ellie apologizing to Aster about the whole scheme. Aster hints that she may have had feelings for Ellie, but that they all know they’re onto different paths in life. Ellie ultimately gets the guts to kiss Aster but then reveals she leaves for college the next day. Paul is the last person Ellie says bye to at the station where he apologizes for everything. The two say their goofy goodbyes and he runs after the train to show how much he loves her.

Alright, let me start off by saying this movie had me crying. The one thing I loved most about this film is that the trailer and the synopsis tries to throw the audience in the direction of rooting for the two girls to have a romance. To be honest, I was one of those people. At one point I wanted Ellie to be with Paul, but throughout the film, you come to realize that it isn’t about whom gets who or who wins over the girl.

It’s about the process of learning about each other and loving a person despite their flaws or their background, income, social status etc. It’s about not giving into what the rest of society does or thinks and digging deeper, reaching outside the box.

It was also beautiful to see a film that doesn’t capitalize on physical romance or physical anything. Everything in this film is purely about loving someone for who they are. A lot of films today with LGBTQ+ themes, or just romance films in general, try to accomplish the message of the movie by overindulging sex scenes or constant hookups or conversations between characters ABOUT sex or hooking up. It was a nice break from the usual Hollywood roundup.

We come to learn that love is messy, complicated, and hectic. However, it’s how you become selfless and put others first to display this love that truly makes it worth it. It’s about the effort you put in and striving to do your best for that person.

At the same time, Love isn’t always romantic either. There are a million different forms of love, but that’s the main point. Love is love. Whether you have love for a best friend who you want to see succeed, love for a family member who you never want to see cry, or love for a stranger who you know is struggling so you try to help them, love is the main destination. Despite all the trials, tribulations and hardships in life, love is the key to paving the way for a beautiful adventure that we can ALL thrive from.

The Half of It was written and directed by Alice Wu (and this is her first major film in over 15 years). The film stars Leah Lewis as Ellie, Daniel Dimer as Paul, and Alexxis Lemire as Aster (you know you’re a badass if you have two X’s in your name).

The film has just won the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival!

You can stream the movie on Netflix today!