Red White & Royal Blue
Amazon Studios | Release Date (Streaming): August 11, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
14
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisAug 11, 2023
It’s not easy to make an amusing, accessible diversion that mixes LGBTQ positivity and national politics, but “Red, White & Blue” passes the test with flying colors. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldAug 14, 2023
To paraphrase a song that pops up in the film — of course it does — during one of countless swoony moments, you can’t help falling in love with this movie. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comNell MinowAug 11, 2023
Director Matthew López makes an impressive feature debut with Red, White & Royal Blue, a love story that skillfully blends the familiar beats of a classic movie romance with the distinctive details of two of the world’s most public young men trying to keep their relationship private. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMatt BrennanAug 14, 2023
López’s film smuggles queer ideas and images into spaces traditionally populated by straight people and shaped by straight tastes. Which is, to be clear, no more the “right” way of updating the genre for the 21st century than any other. It’s just nice, for a change, to come in through the front door. Read full review
75
ColliderCarly LaneAug 14, 2023
Overall, in spite of its stumbles, Red, White & Royal Blue is a charming and diverting rom-com that introduces a welcome new viewpoint to the long-running genre — and Alex and Henry's journey to love is sure to please both longtime fans of McQuiston's novel as well as newer arrivals who are looking for a mostly solid entry point into romance itself. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubDrew GillisAug 14, 2023
Red, White & Royal Blue, ultimately, isn’t revolutionary. It’s more traditional than not—which means, thankfully, that it’s still a lot of fun. Read full review
75
IndieWireErin StreckerAug 14, 2023
Red, White, & Royal Blue is a hopeful, fresh twist on a genre that should charm both fans of the book as well as anyone who enjoys a frothy love tale. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonAug 10, 2023
Red, White & Royal Blue is sweet and funny, and it doesn’t scrimp on the sex scenes. Horny and corny is a good combination for a rom-com, if you ask me. Read full review
70
The New York TimesAmy NicholsonAug 14, 2023
First-time director Matthew López gets us rooting for the cheeky couple’s transition from rivals to romantic bedfellows, boosted by the cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt, who photographs the leads so adoringly that you half-expect them to turn to the camera and hawk a bottle of cologne. Thanks to their playful chemistry, we’re sold. Read full review
70
Vanity FairRichard LawsonAug 14, 2023
The familiarity of RW&RB’s obnoxious indulgences are, in some ways, its greatest triumph: its version of storybook love is allowed to be just as annoying, in the same ways, as the heteros’. Read full review
63
The Associated PressLindsey BahrAug 10, 2023
Ultimately, it’s not earth shattering but it’s also perfectly pleasant for what it is and what it knows it isn’t. Red, White & Royal Blue is a beach read in movie form and one that can and should be watched with friends. Read full review
60
The IndependentJessie ThompsonAug 17, 2023
It’s when the film veers into more serious territory that it becomes unstuck. Read full review
60
We Got This CoveredFrancisca TinocoAug 14, 2023
While the film never really finds its voice outside of the source material, lacking development and a finer tuning to its new medium, 'Red, White & Royal Blue' might still be the most deliciously fun and excitingly sexy romcom of the year. Read full review
60
Little White LiesPatrick SproullAug 14, 2023
There is something strangely comforting about Red, White & Royal Blue, as imperfect as it is. It’s a romcom for the streaming era but it has a markedly different vibe to it because it’s fronted by two men. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeAug 14, 2023
Fortunately, the twin charisma assault of the two leads adds considerably to the film’s appeal. It turns out that watching two impossibly beautiful boys making cow eyes at each other might be just the escapist pulp we need right now. Read full review
60
Screen RantGraeme GuttmannAug 14, 2023
While Red, White & Royal Blue is a little too light on laughs, its central romance follows the book closely enough that die-hard fans will be pleased and casual viewers will be able to find something to love. Read full review
60
ABC NewsPeter TraversAug 14, 2023
There’s nothing new about this queer romance between a president’s son and a prince of England except the way it skips the sorrow to favor the joy. Wishful thinking? Maybe. But for audiences eager to connect instead of divide at the movies, it's about time. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'HaraAug 11, 2023
It is entirely predictable from moment to moment and frequently laughable in its portrayal of international relations and politics, but it’s also funnier than it needed to be, and, thanks chiefly to Zakhar Perez, often charming. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonAug 10, 2023
In several marvelously postmodern moments it recognizes its own glucose level. And the results are genuinely hilarious. Read full review
50
Rolling StoneCT JonesAug 11, 2023
With Red, White & Royal Blue seemingly attempting to straddle the line between BookTok virality and on-screen sensuality, the film is content with being merely rewatchable. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedAug 10, 2023
A feel-good fairy tale that collapses under the weight of its own silliness, Red, White and Royal Blue is a gay rom-com that dazzles visually but defies all attempts at anything resembling plausibility. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 10, 2023
Despite its attempts to be racy and of-the-moment and to earn that R rating, Red, White & Blue comes across as contrived and, at its foundation, quite formulaic. Not even the cake gives a convincing performance. Read full review
48
TheWrapTomris LafflyAug 14, 2023
Unfortunately, López can’t sustain the momentum. Every time a new turn emerges within Red, White & Royal Blue it feels like a new film has sprouted out of the story with embellishments that land as superfluous scenes begging to be deleted, instead of grace notes that elevate the movie. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeAug 14, 2023
Red, White and Royal Blue just isn’t the fun, brain-disengaged romp it could have been, any praise going toward intention rather then execution. Read full review
40
Paste MagazineAbby OlceseAug 10, 2023
Matthew López’s take on the story suffers from breakneck pacing, shallow characterizations across the board, and filmmaking choices that sometimes baffle, and sometimes betray the film’s low budget. It’s a disappointing, slapdash cash-in that does a disservice not only to McQuiston’s book, but the genre it’s part of. Read full review
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