‘Anyone But You’ is bringing back the best parts of early 2000s romcoms

The rom con is on.

Sometime around the early 2000s, a few years after When Harry Met Sally came out, Hollywood stumbled upon the winning formula for the romcom: beautiful people, an unexpected meet-cute, twists and turns so dramatic our fickle hearts can hardly handle them, and of course, a happy ending.

We all want our love stories to be brash, bold and enduring, something we can tell with pride at our weddings. The Y2K romcom gave us that in strides, offering hope to those still looking for love and providing a lot of laughs along the way. To this day, we’re still enamoured by it.

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This summer, romcom fans are in for a treat with Anyone But You, the brand-new blockbuster hitting cinemas this Boxing Day. Starring Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria, White Lotus) and Glen Powell (Top Gun Maverick), the flick is an enemies-to-lovers classic that’s an absolute must-see. From the director behind Easy A and Friends with Benefits, Anyone But You is bringing back all the iconic tropes from the 2000s making it a fun, sizzling-hot watch.

Sydney and Glen star as Bea and Ben, a seemingly perfect couple that’s a little too good to be true. After their first date ends in disaster, their fiery hot attraction turns ice cold – until they’re thrown back together at a destination wedding. Both with ulterior motives, they hatch a plan to pretend to be together, which ends up being just as messy as one would assume. Expect lightning-sharp wit, hilarious mishaps and swoon-worthy moments.

Plus, it all takes place in our very own Sydney, Australia. This means it’s jam-packed with white sand beaches and glamorous cityscapes – as well as massive spiders. Rising Australian model Charlee Fraser also makes an appearance, giving us an extra touch of national pride. As one of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters to be set in Australia in recent years, the film gives international viewers a taste of what Glen has called “the most romantic setting imaginable”.

“I always tell the cast, this might be the last romantic comedy ever in movie theatres, so we better go out with a bang. So try to make it as big, as fun, as funny, as emotional as we possibly can,” said director Will Gluck in an interview. “That challenge attracted all of us.”

Those who have been keeping up with what’s happening behind the scenes know the pair have an insane amount of chemistry both in the clips and IRL, and we can’t wait to see how it all plays out on the silver screen. In teasers, we’ve seen glimpses of Sydney waiting by the waterfront in an elegantly draped pink dress before sharing a salacious kiss with Glen.

With the summer holidays fast approaching, Anyone But You makes for the ultimate escapist day at the movies. When it’s 30 degrees outside and you’re somewhere in that dreamlike period between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s the perfect excuse to ditch the heat, grab a choc top and take in the sweet cinema air conditioning.

See it in cinemas From Boxing Day. Check out the trailer here.