Look Both Ways (2022) User Reviews

Unhurried and light hearted

[hazard111 · 7/10 · 17 August 2022]

I like the premise of this and it was easy to follow even with the constant switches. Plot is simple. There's no plot twist. Just a romance story but with 2 plots blending together.

It was overall a realistic approach but in a wholesome and positive way. No rollercoaster or heavy drama in it which you might like but I think it was what let this show down because it made it somewhat dull. It had a monotonous feeling and given how there's 2 plots merging together the impact of what they are trying to portray is shared between the 2 and it just really didn't deliver any lasting feelings.

Second half of the movie is where we get some more emotion and that half is the better part of the film. Lili delivered her acts well overall. Her face is expressive which helped this film. It's also not preachy so that's plus points for me. Uplifting movie and good for a watch if you're looking for that kind of slow cruising vibe.

Inoffensive

[matt_sole-372-208203 · 5/10 · 27 August 2022]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this film, but it doesn't wow, either. The performances from all of the cast are solid.

So, it's a reworking of the "alternate timeline" story, the best-known version of this is the 1998 movie, Sliding Doors. My advice, watch Sliding Doors instead. They even copied some of the more nuanced aspects of the trope from Sliding Doors. It feels almost like a Hallmark Movie in parts, with very simple storytelling and obvious direction. You never really engage with the characters or care about the outcomes (even though you know the outcome because you know the cinematic trope). There are no twists and turns.

It's a really easy way to kill a couple of hours, but it's not going to be one I want to watch again and again.

As I say, there is nothing wrong with the film, throw it on for an easy watch, but it feels like it could have been much, much more.

could have been bolder

[DunkelheitVZ · 6/10 · 22 August 2022]

I did not dislike this movie at all, it was entertaining, funny and heartwarming, but it could have been better.

Why not show a life that can be fun, engaging and fullfilling without being super successful? Why not focus on the child and show the world how this can be fullfilling on its very own?

The main plot was a bit boring. Wherever she goes in life, there is success waiting for her, pretty boyfriends waiting at every corner that just die for her.

What I got was entertainment, very good entertainment, so don't get me wrong, this is fun to watch and far away from a failure.

What I wanted was a movie that strays away from the typical "I am beautiful, I have success and I get a fullfilling relationship" - trope. In the one life she could have had a fullfilling relationship, maybe even with her daughter, a normal life, like millions of people are having right now. In the other life she could have had success, which is also fullfilling, but no daughter and not a perfect relationship.

Anyway, I hope you can see what I am getting at. Still, if you like romcoms and want to see a good one, this is a great choice.

Light-hearted fun

[gracedrane · 7/10 · 17 August 2022]

This film sits somewhere between a 6 and a 7 for me.

It's a light-hearted rom-com with some good performances from Lili Reinhart, Danny Ramirez and Luke Wilson in particular.

The stakes are a little low in both sides of this Sliding Doors-esque story in which one version of Natalie has a baby and one doesn't, so it never really feels like there's a lot of jeopardy for the main character regardless of her choice. But I do appreciate that neither side is painted as the 'wrong' or 'negative' choice, and that each story has a different love interest.

Far from groundbreaking, but some comfortable fluff I'd probably watch again.

It was almost really good... but it fell short

[anaraguilar · 7/10 · 20 August 2022]

First off,, for those of you complaining that this was a rip-off of Sliding doors, well the trivia on IMBD even brings up that this movie was supposed to be similar to it. They aren't denying it.

Anyway..

It was worth the watch and I really did like most of the movie, but it kind of fell a little short for me.

I think there may have been a little too much story to tell and capture for just a movie.

I found her life in LA to be a little boring and I really wanted more of her and the father's relationship in Texas , their relationship started off strong and I was really looking forward to seeing their journey, but since the point of this movie was to show " what could have been", I feel like as the audience we didn't get the opportunity to get sucked into either of the stories.

I still enjoyed the movie, but something about it left me a little unsatisfied. The relationships just weren't strong enough for me.

Light and easy to watch, but also thought-provoking

[nataliedenggg · 7/10 · 21 August 2022]

I liked the fact that this movie was very easy to watch. It's perfect for when you're bored and don't know what to watch. The story line is easy to follow, not too much drama.

It is also quite interesting how the two sides of life of the main character was portrait. There is definitely some food for thought regarding life choices and routes. Sometimes, the seemingly important decisions and events are not as important as what we think in determining one's life; it is what you do and create for yourself afterwards to live a meaningful life. Either way, one's life can still turn out amazing but just in different ways.

This movie is inspirational in some way, and I would recommend especially to younger audiences e.g. Teens.

Watched it Late Night.. ended up staying up Later

[piratedragon · 7/10 · 16 January 2023]

Overall... I really enjoyed the movie. Acting was pretty solid and fun, shows two different Versions of One persons Life.. wasn't too hard to follow with the transitioning going back and forth, in the beginning I was a little confused, but figured it out. It has its charm for sure. I would Definitely give it a go you like Rom-Coms Chick Flicks style movies. Lili Reinhart is a sweet heart and just nailed the roll. Really liked the dive into Parenthood vs College/Career version of herself. Fun Movie, I give it a 7 for an Good Average.. and 8 if you really like these style of movies. I would Recommend.

"You're okay"

[taleralexandra · 8/10 · 19 August 2022]

To be honest, I just turned this on as a passer by watch and it turned out being absolutely phenomenal! I haven't seen a movie like this in... maybe forever. This movie really makes you think about the choices we make and if you just don't give up on yourself you're going to be okay and end up where you are meant to be for YOU. I love that it still gives you alter endings as much as I sort of hated it haha but hey... it turned out great either way. Highly recommend!

a good way to show young people about hope and trust in their future

[hettie-59328 · 6/10 · 22 August 2022]

The movie was enjoyable to watch overall. It could have easily become messy and confusing but was directed in a way where it mostly managed to help the viewer understand which storyline the scene was taking place in.

It lies on a thin line of adding to the stereotype that women have to either choose motherhood or a career in life but narrowly escaped that by showing that the main character achieves her relationship and career goals in both storylines. The poster and advertising for this movie made me not want to watch it because of this.

The movies target audience is probably ages 14-20, it's a good way for young people (more specifically, young women) understand that no matter what they do with their life and what choices they make that things will turn out okay in the end. I loved the touch of each storylines main character saying 'I'm okay' at the end. Really runs that home.

A movie about hardships of reality which took a break from the hardships of reality

[cmconnexion · 4/10 · 18 August 2022]

My hope was to see a movie fresh, original, and a break from rip offs, sequels and remakes. By the end, it was evident that this movie unfortunately was nothing new.

The rehashing of parallels universe movies such as "Sliding Doors," young motherhood such as "Riding In Cars With Boys," and a slew of other "What could have been?" films in a copy/paste fashion I found irritating. The similarities and clichés, prevented this movie from being original and inspiring. There were no hardships, passion, fights, challenges. The true fight for survival in both career and motherhood were non-existent. The movie would have benefited from those hardships in this parallel tale, and would have carved completely different personal development, fears, and strengths in their analogous environments. The stakes and consequences weren't very high nor did they weigh heavily on the choices made by the main characters. I was deprived of reveling in any character's successes as I was unable to resonate with the characters as they never really pushed and persevered through struggles. Instead, this movie cushioned every blow, took us along a path already well travelled.

There is one character in the movie, who through tough love, rejected the main character for a job because she had taken on so many ideas and traits from other people that she lacked originality and hadn't developed her own voice. This sentiment echoes loud and clear the movie in general.

That being said, this isn't a terrible movie. There are far worse. The movie was well shot, the cast was fun, and the soundtrack will be stuck in your head for quite a while. At times it was difficult to follow the flow between distinct timelines. It will no doubt appeal to most females under the age of thirty. To a broader audience, it will no doubt fall short of hitting the mark of truly satisfying.

Stayed true to both sides

[managementbykristi · 10/10 · 17 August 2022]

Many times movies try to tell women what type of life they should pick by showcasing one lifestyle negatively and another positively.

I'm happy that this showed highs and lows in both scenarios and that at the end she found joy and fulfilment in both.

Emotional, sentimental, and related for the early 20s!

[Fuad_RMNM · 7/10 · 20 August 2022]

This movie is about pregnancy, marriage, and career issues in early adulthood.

It's really good to describe "anxiety, fear & distrust" issues to become parents and a married couple after college. They were a best friend with very different life: a) the girl is a strong academic planner and ambitious animator wanna-be, meanwhile b) the boy is not an academic planner but an ambitious drummer.

The narration is well-made by creating two separate stories throughout the entire movie. The first story is about a condition if they were a parent but not a married couple because of an unexpected pregnancy. The second story is a condition if they weren't a parent, not a married couple, and no one gets pregnant. The best thing is both of the stories are narrated at the same time to keep us looking both ways.

Easy to understand and related stories for the early adults (age 20s) are the main pros. Two separate narrations that run at the same time is another pro. The moral lesson is well-delivered through emotional and sentimental moments.

Besides that, everything is just standard. The acting performance, music, visuals, and set are just typical. Personally, nothing special except my main motivation to see Lili Reinhart (Riverdale actress) and a lil bit of motivation to see Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick actor) as the main cast.

Nevertheless, this movie is fun to watch, sentimental, and has a lot of moral lessons but don't expect too much. It's suitable for everyone in the early adults, age 20s. But, it can also be suitable for anyone who wants to feel nostalgia about the drama of age 20s. As always, I didn't expect anything before watching. Enjoy this movie on Netflix and nothing to lose. Fresh from the oven! Just released on the 17th of August 2022!

Wonderful fairytale story

[nikkikuntergraudunkelbunt · 2/10 · 27 August 2022]

Consequences? Not here.

Everything is working out perfectly, the only hardships are a few fights between characters, the rest? Fairytale walk. Getting accedentaly pregnant? No big deal. Trying to build a career on music or art? No biggie, very easy apparenlty actually. This movie is as far away from reality as it can get and probably a slap in the face for anyone who actually went through those things or tried to build a career on being a drummer/artist. No conflict, no depth building for the characters, you could simply not get attached to anyone. The ending was predictable for both ways and a slumber party.

It is well shot and interesting cuts and overlaps between the different timelines, acting is pretty good average, just your typical Netflix, nothing too outstanding. Also as usual, the trailer showed the whole movie already. Still went in with hopes that perhaps it is not a fairytale like story like the protrayed it to be in the trailer, but yes, sadly was just exactly that.

Formulaic But Cute And Enjoyable

[annlevtex · 7/10 · 8 November 2022]

Imagine a Hallmark Christmas movie where instead of the girl having to choose between Small Town Guy and Big City Guy (and always choosing the former), we get parallel and fairly balanced stories with both, except with no Christmas and a pregnancy (scare?). That's pretty much what this movie is.

I really like Lili Reinhart. She's charming and expressive and quite a good actress. The movie wouldn't work with someone less likable in the lead role. Her character, Natalie, does have some less than admirable moments, but then so does everybody. In that sense it's realistic.

Unfortunately much of the film is quite unrealistic. In both situations things run too smoothly with only a few minor bumps that get resolved with little more than a hiccup. The housing is too nice, the stress not stressful enough, the people too supportive and steady, and the child more than a little too easy after the early baby stage. Some sleepless nights and one explosive poop situation? That's nothing.

That said, I didn't watch this movie for something realistic. I knew it would soften the blows and it did. Which is fine. I really enjoyed seeing Luke Wilson as Natalie's father. I liked the Austin setting. I loved her wardrobe. The animation sequences are brief but sweet and creative. It's a warm-hearted, fairly light story about heavy subjects, and that's fine. Overall, I would say I liked Austin Natalie better than LA Natalie, but then I live in Texas and love Austin.

If you have teen daughters, remind them that this isn't reality. The movies seldom are.

missed potential

[sarahriechwald · 7/10 · 27 August 2022]

I really did liked the movie, however it missed the huge opportunity of the main character actually having a choice: in this situation the girl basically didn't have one because she just wasn't pregnant in one of the two scenarios. I would've much preferred her actively deciding against a child and not keeping it in one of the two situations = this way the message of the movie and everything being "okay" in the end would've been much deeper. It's sad to see the movie being careful around such subject, it makes everything seem more idealised. I also would've loved to see more of the main character development throughout both stories, since her ending up with the fathers child in one scenario was also very predictable (and again, idealised).

happily ever after

[athanasiagrigoriadou · 7/10 · 24 August 2022]

You'll be okay. This movie really makes you understand that even if some things don't work as we expect to but so other things are really meant to be and will be. It's a nice movie to watch on a Saturday night if you're feeling a bit down and need something to make you feel better and like everything is going to be fine. You're okay.

Fun and Cute, but Things Either Come Too Easy or Out of No Where

[smrosner-72173 · 7/10 · 27 October 2022]

Overall I liked the movie. I love alternate realities and parallel lives, and Look Both Ways shows this in a new way, often side by side, which was fun to see.

Natalie's character goes from being too afraid about some things or WAY too bold in others. Either way, everything works out for the best (way too easily).

One issue I have with her love interests are clearly getting the shorter end of the stick on support and their willingness to sacrifice in one way or another for her, but you never see her do the same for them.

Most of her character development comes from those in her life around her forcing her to focus on herself. I would have liked to see her find the willingness to find herself from within.

All in all, very fun and very cute. It's nice to see some things go full circle in the storytelling, and it was the lighthearted watch I was looking for.

Loved every minute of this film

[michelle_kummer · 9/10 · 17 August 2022]

Very similar to Sliding Doors, this was even better.. as no matter what happens life has a way of working out. Loved all of the 3 leads, Lilli is absolutely stunning and looks a little like Britney Murphy. It's a light hearted feel good movie and I highly recommend it.

It's a Wonderful Life

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 9 September 2022]

Natalie (Lili Reinhart) is an artist and plans to go to LA and be a commercial artist. She attends college in Austin, Texas which has been her entire world. Her and her friend Cara (Aisha Dee) have big plans. Gabe (Danny Ramirez) is a good friend and they hook up. In spite of using a condom, Natalie believes she is pregnant. In one take the result is negative. In a subplot the result is positive. We watch her maneuver her way through two different lives. One she is living at home having a baby and the other she travels to LA and gets her dream job.

The film has similarities to "Sliding Doors" where our main character misses a train. One can assign a number of different themes to the production since she doesn't die in either one in a car accident.

Guide: No swearing. Brief sex scene. No nudity.

ENDING

[numjj · 1/10 · 21 August 2022]

Hard to follow movie switches back and forth, gets tiring. Not as funny as it should have been. The movie is about two endings, that both end up ok, but the very end shows her looking at the test results because in reality there can only be one of the endings. However, they don't show us the result of her test only her expression, which my guess is she really was pregnant and that's ok.

Thought was going to be another woke netflix garbage but I stand corrected!

[DantiMovies · 8/10 · 18 August 2022]

I am so happy that this movie was able to portray that no matter your life decisions you will still go through very hard times and very good times.

It shows us that comparing to other "lives" that we could have is not really about what we missed but knowing that each path will have fun surprises and hard trials.

Very very happy about this movie!

A sweet story

[blebbe · 7/10 · 29 August 2022]

The story is sweet, light-hearted and somewhat thought provoking. It makes you think about the choices you make, but it could be even more thought provoking, which I had kind of hoped. The acting is good, especially from the female lead. The length of the movie is also good, it's not too slow and not too fast either. It serves its purpose as an easy watch, but I would have hoped for it to have an even deeper meaning. The plot is interesting, but it could have so much more to offer. It's a lovely story, but to me it felt like something was missing for it to be really good. Still an enjoyable movie though.

Major snoozefest

[traderhman · 3/10 · 18 August 2022]

I was kind of looking forward to this movie when I saw Lil Reinhart was in it. Turned out to be one of the most boring movies I've watched in a long time. It wasn't a bad movie, just incredibly slow and boring. There wasn't any feeling to become invested in the main characters. I did find the parents to be entertaining though, from their initial reaction of horror, to their eventual joy in having a grand child. And the sidekick/roommate managed to creep into your heart, but that was about it. Oh, and the child actors they cast as Rosie were quite cute.

If you need some background noise while you are working on something else, I think Look Both Ways is a good choice.

Look both ways, especially sideways

[osaghedesuzette · 6/10 · 31 August 2022]

This movie sums up how life can play when we make mistakes and if we don't. I learned a few lessons.

1. We don't have to wallow in regret and self pity. Just pick up the pieces of your life and move on.

2. Life isn't always mean. You just haven't found your way around it.

3. It might take time but eventually, you'll get there.

4. If you're not bold and daring,you won't walk into certain doors.

5.some people can have love staring right in their faces but they won't see it coz they're either too scared or just plain blind.

6.fear can ruin friendships and hinder relationships.

I loved the fact that Nat was really ambitious and achieved everything she sought out to. Her boss was an amazing woman. In an era where people would rather use people than help them,Nat's boss pushed her. We need more women like that out there. I gave it a six coz it is a dope movie but they can always do better.

Sweet, heartwarming and definitely better than I expected

[dani_sgarcia · 20 August 2022]

7.5 ⭐s August 20, 2022

I went fully expecting that it was going to be another miss Netflix rom-com but NOOOO... It was way more than a simple light cheesy chick flick. Even though I am not a fan of this style of parallel narrative and understand why it was made that way, I ended up enjoying this movie a lot. Look Both Ways was really good, funny, light, heartwarming and sweet. Lili had such a great chemistry with both Danny and David-solid performances from the three of them. You can literally choose them 😂. I have to confess that I would have loved even more a third way or a hybrid of the two ways yet I was happy with its ending.