The new Netflix romance Love, Divided is a charming remake of the French romantic comedy Blind Date, set in Spain this time around. When a young pianist moves into a new apartment, she learns that her cranky neighbor is trying to drive her out because he can only work in complete silence. Eventually, they compromise on the noise, and soon after, they form a romantic relationship, without ever setting eyes on each other.
Opening Shot: A grand piano is hoisted by crane in front of an apartment building. A woman on the ground watches anxiously.
The Gist: Valentina (played by Spanish singer Aitana) is our anxious piano player, and she’s moving into a new apartment after a breakup with her ex. Her cousin, Carmen, has arranged a new life for her: a new apartment and new job at a coffee shop, in an effort to get Valentina to move on with her life, but Valentina is preoccupied with a piano audition she has in three weeks that she’s determined to practice for day and night.
David (Fernando Guallar) is Valentina’s new next door neighbor, Their apartments are barely soundproof, and David, an agoraphobic game designer, is something of a mad genius; he’s surrounded by gadgets and tools and requires complete silence to work.
David has successfully chased away every other tenant that has tried to move into the apartment next door by rigging up noisy contraptions that make spooky noises at all hours. Valentina and David speak through the wall and she learns he wants her out so that he can do his work in peace, but she holds firm that she’s not budging, so they engage in a noise-off to try and annoy one another through the wall: he wakes her up with loud banging, she plays piano at all hours. After a particularly contentious day where David critiques Valentina’s piano playing, he later offers an apology and the two start to talk from their respective sides of the wall and get to know one another.
Not only do the two become friendly, but they form a real relationship despite never seeing each other in the flesh, they even rearrange their apartments so their beds share the wall and they can sleep near one another. Valentina remains anxious about her piano audition, especially because her ex, a controlling older man who is also a conductor, has recommended her for it. He’s the one who pushed her to play professional piano, despite her love of singing, so really, she’s pushing herself as a pianist to satisfy him and make him look good. David recognizes that Valentina’s real love is singing and composing, and he encourages her to pursue those instead, but she doesn’t believe in herself enough, not yet anyway.
Eventually, the day of the audition comes and Valentina has to prove herself. She doesn’t exactly bomb it, but at David’s suggestion, instead of playing Beethoven, she plays an original number she wrote. Of course she gets kicked out of the audition and her ex is furious, but guess what? By this point, Valentina is a new woman, ready to come face to face with her future… and with David, who she’s finally ready to see in. the flesh.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Love, Divided combines a quirky, Amélie-like fantasy-meets-reality element to all of its settings (not to mention the fact that Valentina possesses a similar childlike quality to Amélie), mixed with a dash of Love Is Blind.
Our Take: Despite the fact that Love, Divided is a light, airy, implausible love story, it does something that many films like it don’t do, which is give its characters motivation and backstory. Valentina, meek and timid, has spent her life being told what to do, overshadowed and put in her place by a domineering ex. So, too, does David, whose commitment-phobia is rooted in a tragic loss. All of the “whys” come out eventually, which is a crucial component of creating characters instead of caricatures. Credit for that also must be given to the leads, Aitana and Fernando Guallar, who are subtle but convincing as they guide their characters toward love. And the rest of the supporting cast provides the right balance, as they all incredulously rib their two friends for creating a relationship with someone from behind a wall.
The film can’t really be categorized as a rom-com, as it’s fairly light on laughs, but it hits the same beats that a great romantic comedy should (despite having a big music number to showcase Aitana’s talent, it’s not really a musical, either), so I suppose it would be best categorized as a feel-good romance, basically a Spanish-language Hallmark movie. And that’s not meant in a negative way, the film is charming in all the best ways, while managing to avoid being saccharine or generic. While it could have used another pass to make it a little funnier or to give David’s character some resolution of his own (his mad-scientist schtick fades away and the game he’s been designing takes a backseat to his love life), the film slowly and surely builds toward a well-earned happy ending.
Sex and Skin: There’s one scene of Carmen and her date kissing, with implied sex after.
Parting Shot: Valentina and David break down the wall between their apartments and she climbs through the opening and into his arms. As they see one another for the first time, he says, “Hello,” and they fall into a kiss.
Performance Worth Watching: Carmen (Natalia Rodriguez), and Nacho, played by Paco Tous, give some good Carrie Fisher-Bruno Kirby vibes as Valentina and David’s respective sidekicks who also manage to have some sparks fly between them.
Memorable Dialogue: “This is the best dinner I ever had without being in the same room,” David’s friend Nacho says, excusing himself from a meal where he and David have sat on one side of a wall, opposite Valentina and Carmen on the other side.
Our Call: STREAM IT! Love, Divided is a hidden gem, a romantic fantasy that’s broad and appealing, not too heavy on the farce or mistaken identities, and hits just the right notes.
Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.
