Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Groom and Two Brides’ on Netflix, A Familiar Love Triangle Rom-Com from Kuwait

This Kuwaiti romantic comedy hails from director Elie El Semaan, who previously helmed Honeymoonish for Netflix. Groom and Two Brides treads similar ground in the romance space; will this drama be worth streaming?

The Gist: Adam (Abdullah Boushahri) is hopelessly in love with Sama (Lulwa Almulla), a carefree woman seemingly out of his league who wants to travel and see the world instead of settling down. Three years after she says no to his marriage proposal, she reappears in his life, apparently ready to rekindle their romance. The only problem is that he’s agreed to marry Yasmine (Laila Abdallah) as part of a business proposal set up by her father, who is Adam’s boss. With both women assuming they are his betrothed, Adam has to juggle both relationships, and ultimately choose one to be his wife.

What Will It Remind You Of?: Adam’s playboy attitude is reminiscent of Ryan Gosling in Crazy Stupid Love, as the hard exteriors of both characters are slowly chipped away throughout the films.

Performance Worth Watching: Laila Abdullah’s Yasmine is headstrong, endearing, and vulnerable—exactly what is needed to anchor her as the part of the equation to root for.

Memorable Dialogue: “My grandma said it,” an exasperated Talal lets slip during Adam’s outfit fitting. “No man can serve two masters.” It’s a dig both at his predicament and the polyamory certain sects of Islam allows, which is referenced earlier in the film.

Sex and Skin: Understandably, there is no sex or skin in this Middle Eastern comedy—though the narrative and execution are progressive in other ways.

Our Take: If you’re a close viewer of the rom-com genre, you’ll find a lot of familiar tropes at play in Netflix’s new drama from Kuwait. There’s a male protagonist who has sworn off of love and adopting a playboy aesthetic; when he’s tempted into an engagement for business purposes, his first love reappears; and despite his strong feelings for that first love, he eventually falls for the newer woman, who seemed like a long shot when they first got together.

The recognizable tropes weren’t all good ones though. When Adam first goes to meet Yasmine, he spots a plump woman with a stern face and mistakes that for his betrothed. His unhappiness is clear and plays into the fat-phobic stereotypes that romance dramas around the world traffic in. The point is driven home when the beautiful—and slim—Yasmine appears on the scene, and you can literally see the relief wash over him. For a film that seems to be progressive in many other ways—especially in its depiction of hard-working, independent, and sexually free women in the Middle East—this small moment was a disappointing reminder of how far our collective societies have to go in accepting various body types as beautiful.

While Groom and Two Brides is chock full of familiar beats, the performances manage to make this an enjoyable watch. Boushahri and Abdallah have great chemistry, moving from the intimacy of their childhood friendship to co-conspirators to eventual lovers with ease. Similarly, Almulla’s Sama is a great foil for the core relationship. Her character ultimately has agency over her life and decisions, and her ultimate decision was one of the few surprises in an otherwise familiar story.

Still, despite its reliance on recycled drama, Groom and Two Brides is still a fun romp to throw on this weekend.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Groom and Two Brides is a sweet, though predictable, love triangle story that ultimately has the winning ingredients.

Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Paste Magazine, Teen Vogue, Vulture 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.