An odd, erotic teen romance that fails to make an impact
Once every few months, Netflix decides to drop some erotic movies to appease a certain subset of viewers. While the movies do end up getting a good deal of views, all thanks to their sexual content, these films seem to have little to no impact from the storytelling perspective. One such movie is Through My Window: Across The Sea, a sequel to the 2022 movie – Through My Window.
The new release takes place a year after the events of the ending of its predecessor. After Ares and Raquel decide that their romance is one that could stand the test of time and distance, Ares leaves for Stockholm to pursue his medical degree. Meanwhile, Raquel takes up a degree in English Literature in Barcelona.
Since most of their relationship revolves around sex, Ares and Raquel try their best to keep their relationship going with constant texts, long-distance roleplay, sexting and more. With both Ares and Raquel’s grades slacking off, things in their respective academics start getting dicey. Ares comes back home to spend the summer with Raquel but the two soon realise that the distance did a lot more damage to their relationship than they thought.
While Through My Window 1 made no real sense, their romance still somehow worked. However, the two still clinging on to their teenage romances, despite being thousands of miles away from each other, doesn’t work.
Through My Window narrated the story of Ares, a misunderstood teenager who somehow has the body and name of a Greek God. He falls in love with his next-door neighbour and learns that she likes him just as much by hacking into her laptop from her WiFi. One may have deduced that Ares would turn into a hacker in the sequel but instead we get him aspiring to be a doctor.
The sequel does not do a particularly good job of capturing his journey though, and it’s difficult to tell if Ares is a student studying medicine or economics. The movie makes no attempt to justify the plot because the narrative here is simply sex. There is just too much nudity in the movie and one cannot help but question why? What is the nudity contributing to?
The movie tries its best to make it seem as though Ares and Raquel are star-crossed lovers who have this forbidden romance, when in reality it is Artemis – Ares’ older brother – that deserves his story to be told. Had this movie taken a different turn to tell Artemis and Apolo’s (the youngest Hidalgo brother) stories, it may have been more enjoyable.
If there was an award for the most awkward and out-of-place dance sequence, this movie would get it, for the second time. There is so much left in the dark with Artemis and Apolo’s stories but it is atrocious that the makers decided to focus on Ares’ story another time.
Artemis being in love with his housemaid, the woman that practically raised him, and Apolo discovering his sexuality, feels like a much better plot than Ares pining over Raquel but not having the gall to articulate his feelings for her. The introduction of Ares’ college friend Vera, who happens to be just as rich as Ares, looks like a plot point that has used and reused over and over again.
The plots and plot twists on Through My Window: Across The Sea awfully resemble so many other movies produced by Netflix. The one-sided lover, the sexual relationship between the main leads, the long-distance relationship, a rich friend of his level at college, and the alleged cheating, to name a few. They’re all in here. It wouldn’t be outside the realm of absurdity to call this movie an erotic version of The Kissing Booth, another Netflix Original.
While most of the movie screams absurd, there is little to no doubt that Yoshi’s character is the worst-written one in this series. He has been harbouring a one-sided crush on Raquel for so long but no one, including their third best friend Daniela, tells Raquel about it.
The sequel ends with a promise to return for a third instalment, one that I’m sure no one actually asked for but will undoubtedly watch all the same. Unfortunately, there’s little here to recommend.
Read More: Through My Window: Across The Sea (2023) Ending Explained
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Verdict - 3/10
3/10