The new Netflix movie Love, Guaranteed poses a frequently asked question that no one can ever seem to answer: is love guaranteed?

The movie starts with a young pair of main characters/love interests. The woman’s name is Susan (Rachael Lee Cook), and the man’s name is Nick (Damon Wayan’s Jr.). The premise of the movie is that Nick has gone out on a thousand dates—all with different women—through the help of a dating app named Love Guaranteed, hence the name of the movie. He then decides he wants to sue the dating app for guaranteeing him love, which, after a valiant effort, he still does not have.

That is where Susan comes in. She is a lawyer who owns her own firm that is struggling to gain customers. So, when a handsome man walks in with a supposedly easy to win case that offers her a great deal of money, she quickly takes him up on his offer and agrees to be his lawyer. 

Now, although the plot may seem borderline cheesy and potentially basic, this movie is one that any seasoned rom-com watcher would want to add to their watch list. 

Looking past the average storyline, this movie actually makes you think about love in a slightly new way. It captivates the audience by making them ask themselves what they would give in order to guarantee that they not only find love, but actually fall in love and get all the mushy-gushy cute stuff that goes along with it?

In this world of uncertainty—where half of marriages end in divorce—most people would probably have no difficulty giving up any arrangement of valuable things if it meant guaranteeing love for the rest of your life. 

This quote from the movie says it best: “It’s not a risk to fall in love. It’s a risk not to.”

The meaning behind this quote is that if there are all these dating websites out there using unrealistic slogans, just like the movie portrayed, then love may not be guaranteed. However, it also enforces the idea that if you never try to find it, then you’re definitely going to end up without it. 

Love, Guaranteed teaches viewers to look past what you expected life to give you and instead put yourself out there in a way that will potentially give you more than you ever thought possible.

The movie particularly spoke to me as a young viewer. It shows us some of the unfortunate realities of online dating.  Sometimes you’ll get stood up, and sometimes you’ll go on terrible dates, but if you never try to go after what you deserve, then how are people supposed to find out how amazing you are? 

This seemingly average rom-com is actually a masterpiece of underlying messages—messages that are meant to encourage you to look at all the world has to offer all while still respecting yourself and having boundaries.