"L'amore trova via".
Love in the Villa is a 2022 Romantic Comedy written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. It was released on September 1, 2022 on Netflix.
Romeo and Juliet superfan Julie (Kat Graham) can't wait to go on her dream tour of Verona, Italy, only for her longterm boyfriend Brandon (Raymond Ablack) to dump her. Julie goes on the trip anyway, only to find that the villa they were supposed to stay in has been double-booked with a cynical Englishman, Charlie (Tom Hopper), who is in town for Vinitaly. With no respite from the listing's owner Silvio (Emilio Solfrizzi), Julie and Charlie agree to share the villa for the week... an agreement that lasts until they both attempts to terrorize the other out of the villa. However, this prank war winds up sparking a genuine connection.
Tropes:
- British Stuffiness: Lampshaded by Charlie when he's uncomfortable at the American Julie's Inelegant Blubbering.Charlie: I'm British. So I don't deal with overt displays of emotion.
- Casting Gag: Charlie's posh and obnoxious fiancee Cassie is played by his actor Tom Hopper's real-life wife Laura Hopper.
- Class Pet: Julie's third graders have a pet snake in the classroom, and they're more interested in feeding it than listening to her read Romeo and Juliet.
- Dance of Romance: Julie and Charlie dance together at the winery reception which results in an Almost Kiss.
- Disposable Fiancé: Julie's longterm boyfriend Brandon appears in the beginning to dump her and near the end to try and win her back. It doesn't stop her from rejecting him and getting with Charlie.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Julie, upon learning about Charlie's allergic reaction to cats, lures them all in his bed while he's sleeping and it's played for comedy. Granted, Charlie retaliates by selling her stuff to charity and publicly exposing her diary but his schemes are less physical and life threatening than what she did to him.
- Drives Like Crazy: The man who drives Julie to the villa, Uberto, gleefully weaves in and out of lanes, barely avoiding hitting other drivers and pedestrians, and causing Julie to slam into the sides of the car multiple times.
- Escalating War: Julie tries to get Charlie to leave by luring cats (which he's allergic to) to his room. He retaliates by having her suitcases donated to an orphanage. She changes the locks on the villa and gets him arrested after he tries to make a jump onto her balcony. He then puts her journal entries about Brandon on a public wall. It ends after that.
- Failed Attempt at Drama: Charlie leaves Julie with a threatening "I wouldn't be so sure about that"... only for the door to catch on his way out.
- Familiar Soundtrack, Foreign Lyrics: This American film uses the occasional Italian cover of English songs to set the Verona mood. For example, Italian covers of Smash Mouth's "I'm A Believer" and Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" play over the prank war.
- Food Fight: Julie throws her plate of pastissada de caval at Charlie. He retaliates by throwing food at her and she gives as good as she gets. The resulting commotion gets the cops called on them.
- Fun T-Shirt: Charlie mockingly suggests that Julie buy herself a shirt saying "Leaning Tower of Pizza", only for Julie to unzip her hoodie and reveal a shirt saying "Endless Pastabilities".
- Gay Best Friend: Julie's coworker and close friend Rob, a man with vocal fry and a boyfriend, whom she relates her romantic and vacation troubles to.
- I Ate WHAT?!: Julie is disgusted to learn that the delicious food Charlie just served her is horse (a Veronese staple, pastissada de caval) and throws her food at him. It starts a Food Fight. He admits later that it was mushroom marinated to taste like meat.
- Inelegant Blubbering: After resigning herself to her situation, Julie breaks down crying on the couch, her speech illegible and her sobs squeaky. When an uncomfortable Charlie hands her a napkin, the nose-blowing she does are also loud and ungraceful.
- Minnesota Nice: When Rob encourages Minneapolis native Julie to terrorize Charlie and get him to leave, he says to put away the "Minnesota nice".
- One Head Taller: Julie only goes up to her love interest Charlie's shoulders (Kat Graham is 5'2 while Tom Hopper is 6'5), causing him to make several cracks about her height.
- Pair the Spares: Cassie and Brandon get dumped by Charlie and Julie, respectively. They get a drink together in the end, obviously charmed by each other.
- Poisoned Chalice Switcheroo: Charlie prepares dinner for himself and Julie to put an end to their prank war. Julie swaps their wine glasses just in case he put something in her drink. Charlie quotes the scene from The Princess Bride where Vizzini tries to psych out Wesley about which glass he'd poisoned and Julie swaps them back.
- Plot Allergy: Charlie is deathly allergic to cats, which is unfortunate for him as the piazza is full of them. Julie lures them into his bedroom in an attempt to get him to leave.
- Race for Your Love: Charlie decides he loves Julie, dumps his fiancee Cassie and makes a mad dash for the villa, only to see Brandon propose to her.
- Screaming Plane Baby: Part of what makes Julie's flight to Verona so unpleasant is the screaming baby in the row behind her and another child kicking her seat.
- Tell Him I'm Not Speaking to Him: Early in the film, Charlie and Julie both tell Silvio to tell the other person about their booking...even though Silvio is standing between the two of them.
