‘Unique’ Netflix romcom won’t leave a dry eye in the house

Netflix has hundreds of hilarious romcoms to choose from, and one that has earned the love of fans has been 2019’s Always Be My Maybe

Ali Wong and Keanu Revves in a still from Always Be My Maybe

t’s easy to lose faith in love, but Netflix has the romcom that might get you to believe in love once again, even if your crush isn’t messaging you back anymore.

Released in 2019, Always Be My Maybe follows Sasha Tran (Ali Wong) and Marcus Kim (Randall Park), childhood friends who cut off all connections after a brief romantic encounter went wrong. While Sasha is enjoying the high-flying life that being a celebrity brings, Marcus leads a much more reserved lifestyle.

The film’s official synopsis reads: “Childhood friends Sasha and Marcus have a falling-out and don’t speak for 15 years. But when Sasha, now a celebrity chef in Los Angeles, returns to her hometown of San Francisco to open a new restaurant, she runs into her old pal–a happily-complacent musician still living at home and working for his dad.

“Though the two are reluctant to reconnect, they soon find the old sparks–and maybe some new ones?”

Although the film has been available on Netflix for seven years, it still proves to be a hit with fans, with several even going so far as to call the romcom their “favourite” in the genre.

Who stars in Always Be My Maybe?

The film is led by Ali Wong (American Housewife) and Randall Park (The Residence), who have been real-life friends for around three decades. Younger versions of their characters are played by Miya Cech (The Astronauts), Ashley Liao (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), Emerson Min (Black-ish) and Jackson Geach (Just Beyond).

Randall Park and Ali Wong walking down a city street, both wearing casual clothing© Ed Araquel / Netflix
The film stars Alison Wong and Randall Park

Also featuring in the popular romcom are James Saito (Modern Love), Michelle Buteau (First Wives Club), Vivian Bang (Sullivan & Son), Karan Soni (Deadpool), Lo Mutuc (Steven Universe), Susan Park (Revenge) and Daniel Dae Kim (Lost).

The cast is completed by Lyrics Born (Sorry to Bother You), Casey Wilson (Gone Girl), Peggy Lu (Venom), Raymond Ma (Lethal Weapon 4), Peter New (Diary of Wimpy Kid) and Keanu Reeves (John Wick), who plays a version of himself in the romcom.

What did fans make of Always Be My Maybe?

Fans have loved the Netflix romcom, as one enthused: “It’s a unique comedy drama love story. Not like a normal love story, easy to guess plot twist kind of movie. It’s good,” while a second added: “My favourite rom-com. Keanu Reeves is AMAZING.”

Randall Park smiling next to a car© Netflix
Fans have loved the film since its 2019 released

A third penned: “This movie was weird, witty and quite the laugh. The details of Marcus and Sasha doing the same things in different ways, Veronica and Mr Kim’s involvement (and Keanu Reeves, for some reason?) along with a very enjoyable soundtrack, all makes this serve as a unique take on love and the complexity of a friends to strangers to lovers timeline. Also, really loved the band!”

However, in a two-star review for The Guardian, Benjamin Lee complained: “It’s admirable to see the streaming giant try to reinvigorate genres that have fallen out of favour on the big screen, the teen movie also being a notable example, but there’s also a laziness underpinning the execution