It's exhausting when the most revered movies that depict queer relationships are intense indie dramas focusing on the violence and trauma that comes hand-in-hand with trying to survive in a homophobic society. Whilst those stories are true and valid and important, we simply have to have variety, especially when queer film comes in all forms; good, bad, cheesy, serious, happy, sad.

The Amazon Original Film Red, White and Royal Blue falls firmly into the cheesy category - and not only is that okay, but it’s to be encouraged. Film, after all, is a brief reprieve from reality, and it’s nice to revel in a fantasy-land where the stakes are lower and every major world leader is a woman. For its blissful 121 minute runtime, that’s exactly the world in which we find ourselves in Red, White and Royal Blue. 

A Hallmark movie in all but name, Red, White and Royal Blue is a charming film with some genuinely awful green-screen work adopted by the filmmakers to attempt to show our characters in various palaces and political rallies across the world. The story itself is just as Hallmark-esque as we’d expect, telling the tale of a budding romance between the First Son of the United States, Alex (Taylor Zakhar Perez) and his across-the-pond counterpart, Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine).

Red, White and Royal Blue is an enemies-to-lovers fable for the modern world, existing in a realm of genre that is just as much of a fantasy as Lord Of The Rings or Harry Potter, but of the romantic sorts; a sunny utopia with a female President and only moderate homophobia. This movie knows exactly what it is and what it’s trying to do, and it has no interest in straying from that path. It’s a switch-your-brain-off-for-two-hours-and-relax type of film, and for those who approach Red, White and Royal Blue with this understanding of what to expect, the film is a roaring success - even if that success comes somewhat uneven.

As delightful as the film is, it excels more as a “rom” than a “com”, fatally and humorlessly indulging silly slapstick and low-brow humour more than genuine wit or sharply written lines. But the “rom” picks up the slack; our two leads are each as charming as the other and their chemistry holds the film together well, although Taylor Zakhar Perez’s performance as Alex is slightly overwhelming at points. He understands that he’s in a television movie and his performance reflects that, but he’s firing on all cylinders for every moment that he’s on screen, mostly for the better but occasionally for the slightly annoying. Uma Thurman meanwhile is completely baffling as the President Of The United States, using a distracting Southern drawl when she speaks, which feels unnatural and forced. She’s trying to have fun, but she’s completely misunderstood the assignment. Red, White and Royal Blue has an in-built audience of Middle Aged Actress devotees - read: gay people - so it’s a shame to see the role go to waste. 

The story itself is interesting and high-concept enough to keep the momentum going for the majority of the film’s running time, but once the romantic pair settle into a peaceful and happy groove in the second act, the pace deflates. We do need things to go a bit wrong to make for an engaging film, and things are a little too smooth-running for a moment. But when the drama of the third act kicks into gear, the plot is rejuvenated, refocusing itself to make for a finale that has just the right amount of turmoil and upset as we’d like from a film as easy-on-the-brain as this. 

Red, White and Royal Blue is never going to win any Oscars, but it’s a perfectly valid way to spend a couple of hours with friends. You’ll soon find yourself swept up into the handsome allure and low-stakes drama of Alex and Henry, and in our current climate where the very existence of queer folk is on the line, it’s nice to simply take a breather from that for a moment. It’s nice to imagine a world that’s a bit kinder and films like Red, White and Royal Blue are, frankly, good for the culture. We need films like this to remind people that, as the old adage goes, we’re here and we’re queer, and we’re not going anywhere. And we have “bad” films too! Our stories matter and they’re entertaining and people should watch them, whether they’re about the legitimate difficulties of navigating society as a queer person, or whether they’re a slice of sexy escapism about the romantic escapades of a Prince and his lover.