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If you’re employed as an entertainment writer, you’re supposed to have a certain level of taste. You’re supposed to enjoy brilliantly plotted, expertly acted, and well-produced works of art. I do like watching things that are empirically good. However, I have a deep, dark secret: I kind of love terribly cheesy British romantic comedies.

I’m not talking about well-made and wittily written films like Four Weddings and a Funeral or About A Boy. I mean movies that are made on a shoestring budget, feature up-and-coming actors, and feature some sort of really corny gimmick. I’m referring to films like The Decoy Bride and Chalet Girl. You know The Decoy Bride and Chalet Girl. They’re those movies that come up on your Netflix homepage that you scroll past because they are called The Decoy Bride and Chalet Girl. I, however, have watched these films and I have secretly loved these films, and one day soon, when it is a blisteringly cold Saturday morning, and I am wearing dirty sweatpants and sipping my second mug of tea, I probably watch them again.

Before I say anything else, I want to note that these films are not totally without merit. Usually, they feature really talented actors delivering winsome performances and they smack of classic British wit. These films are usually shot somewhere really pretty like Scotland, Switzerland, or the nice parts of London. By the end of the film, our plucky heroine and our proud hero have fallen in love. It’s all so charming.

And yet, I’m the first to admit that these movies are also the film equivalent of a plastic-wrapped Krafts single: utterly cheesy and lacking any substance.

So what?

I mean, yes, I think that I have a duty as an entertainment writer to champion true art. I should celebrate complex, nuanced, and courageous films like Nightcrawler or A Most Violent Year. Those are two of the best films I saw in the last month and I do believe more people should see them. They’re exquisitely directed and address the dark side of the American dream. Both Jake Gyllenhaal and Oscar Isaac should have received more recognition for their truly incredible performances. Having said all that, I know that I am going to watch Not Another Happy Ending again before I rewatch either of those films. And Not Another Happy Ending is a strange film that doesn’t know if it’s a satire of the publishing industry or a Scottish farce (which isn’t even a genre) or an excuse to dress Karen Gillan up like Annie Hall. I don’t know watching that movie makes me so happy, but by God, it does.

I just really, really like corny British romcoms. I’m not sure if I can logically figure out why I enjoy them, but I do believe they offer something important to audiences. They provide comfort. The world is full of violence and terror, hatred and fear. Sometimes, I don’t want to remember that people are murdered or that bad guys win. I want to watch Felicity Jones overcome her self-doubt to win a snowboarding competition in the Swiss Alps while Ed Westwick looks on adoringly. I want to see Karen Gillan run through the rain to make her estranged father’s pub trivia night so that she can help him win a trip to Disney World. I have a terrible need to see David Tennant dressed up like a plaid disco nightmare and playing the bagpipes for an old deaf couple. Yes, these are all things that actually happen in these films and each of these moments contains an absurd glory that thrills me.

So, here I am, admitting in front of the world that my name is Meghan O’Keefe, I’m a writer for Decider.com, and I love the everlasting shit out of terribly corny, cheesy, and implausible British romantic comedies. [Watch The Decoy Bride, Chalet Girl, and Not Another Happy Ending]

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