With the prospect of a seemingly never-ending quarantine, Netflix and its endless repertoire of shows and movies have been keeping me going. I’ve been given the opportunity to watch movies that I wouldn’t normally bestow my attention, and with this mentality, I stumbled upon The Royal Treatment. 

Everybody has read this copy and paste plot many times before, but I’ll reiterate it just in case. A kind and nothing-like-his-self-consumed-parents prince who just wants a normal life runs into a hairdresser struggling with money, but she still has the time to be incredibly charitable and gracious to all. Together, they change each other’s outlook on life and have a good time in the process. 

I will say, that is what I expected from the movie, so I can’t be too upset that it delivered exactly what a cheesy romance movie is meant to. I don’t know if it was the prospect of two actors whose work I’ve enjoyed in the past, Laura Marano and Mena Massoud, playing the main characters, but for some reason, I expected more from the film. Unfortunately, though, the movie did have shortcomings that lived up to its cliche movie poster. 

To begin, there were many actors who had to put on an accent for the film, including the main love interest Izzy, played by Laura Marano. Normally, accents don’t put me off so much, but something about Marano’s fake New York accent pulled me out of her performance. I understand completely wanting that aspect of authenticity, but the movie would’ve been much more palatable if they left the accent out of it. 

The film also had the “two sidekick best friends who would do anything for the main character” trope. Normally, these sidekick characters are supposed to provide comedic relief and create another storyline to get invested into. Unfortunately, the two best friends felt almost completely unnecessary to the script and enabled unmotivated scenes I just wanted to skip through because of their lack of purpose and humor.

Although I could go on about the lack of chemistry between the two main love interests or the amount of unnecessary and underdeveloped characters, the movie did have some notable achievements. 

Besides going to and finding your prince charming, the movie also urges its audience to be charitable and to remember that there is always someone less fortunate than you. They also emphasized things like learning “the help’s” names and that no matter what job someone has, they are human. This message is one I would love to see emphasized much more in movies and TV shows.

Although I wish this storyline was made more important than the seemingly forced romance between Marano and Massoud’s characters, the energy that went into this message of consideration was respectable.

Overall, if you’re looking for a divine piece of cinema, I would look in a different Netflix tab. However, if a feel-good cheesy romance that will make you laugh through the little bits of cringe is what you’re after, then look no further; The Royal Treatment perfectly served that purpose.