Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Someone Borrowed’ on Netflix, A Romantic Comedy With Some Very Familiar Elements

A Brazilian rom-com, Someone Borrowed is a Netflix original film. As Netflix fills out their romance film slate, how does this film from writer Luanna Guimaraes and director Cris D’Amato compare?

SOMEONE BORROWED: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: A perennial bad boy and bachelor, Luis’s (Caio Castro) world is turned upside down when his mother is diagnosed with an illness and given six months to live. Her dying wish is to see her son married and his inclusion in her will is dependent on this fact. Luis sets out to find a fake wife and meets an actress named Lina (Thati Lopes) who makes her living by being hired as people’s fake daughters, lovers, and wives. Luis and Lina play house for his mom while trying to maintain their distance in their personal lives – at least, until true feelings develop.

What Will It Remind You Of?: The pretend relationship plot is a tale as old as time, with classics like The Wedding Date and The Proposal but this particular film veers closest to How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days with its reluctant bachelor who is ultimately charmed by the woman he is fake-courting.

Performance Worth Watching: Patricya Travassos plays Luis’s mom and imbues her limited screen time with warmth and humor.

Memorable Dialogue: “Actors don’t yell, we project our voices,” Lina says before cursing Luis out for saying something offensive.

Sex and Skin: This film is PG-13, nothing explicit here despite many mentions of sex.

Our Take: The film opens on a cliche: a voiceover of Luis explaining his rules for dating, which are really just rules for avoiding a relationship. It’s something we’ve seen time and again in romantic comedies, where a man who wants a no-strings-attached relationship gets caught up in a scheme that ends in him falling in love.

Someone Borrowed doesn’t necessarily elevate that concept, but does at least pair this man with an interesting woman. Lina has personality, and even when her antics are slightly annoying and she’s unnecessarily inserting herself into Luis’s real dating life, she’s engaging and compelling. Unfortunately she’s not enough to hold up the film, which also has a side plot about Luis’s sister trying to sniff out their lie, which concludes in a flat moment in a messy climax.

For a film that’s regurgitating some plot lines that we���ve seen before, it’s a perfectly enjoyable watch. But just be aware that it doesn’t add too much to the existing formula.

Our Call: SKIP IT. The story is over the top and a bit cheesy, and doesn’t reinvent the wheel for the genre.

Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Vulture, Teen Vogue, Paste Magazine, and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.