2 Hearts Parent Guide
Jacob Elordi and his pecs star in this bittersweet story of love, death, and incomprehensible generosity.
Parent Movie Review
For romance fans, 2 Hearts is a “twofer”– two love stories for the price of one. If you adore movies with beautiful, starry-eyed young lovers, you’ll get your money’s worth here. Just make sure you have enough tissues to mop up two films’ worth of tears.
The first love story centers around Jorge Bolivar (Adan Canto), the handsome scion of a wealthy Cuban family. Caught up in the Castro revolution of the late 1950s, his family relocates to the US and Jorge starts traveling for the family’s rum business. He is terrified of flying, only to start exploring the “friendly skies” when he meets Leslie (Radha Mitchell), a Pan Am flight attendant. The two fall in love, but their journey together is complicated by Jorge’s lung disease which pushes some of their dreams out of reach.
Jorge and Leslie’s story interweaves with that of Chris (Jacob Elordi), a happy-go-lucky young adult, blithely unconcerned by his grades or the need to have long term plans or goals. Chris is decades younger than the first couple, and as he coasts into university in 2007, he continues focusing on fun and friends. Then he meets Sam (Tiera Skovbye). She’s beautiful, bright, and dedicated to helping others, volunteering for a safe ride service to help students get home safely at night. Chris can’t drive but he persuades Sam she’s safer if he rides shotgun, and she falls in love with his indefatigable good cheer and easy charm.
I’m not sharing spoilers when I say that these two real life love stories connect through tragedy: it’s in the trailer. I can’t reveal much more about the narrative, though, because there’s a significant plot twist and if I try to dance around it, I’ll give it away. Suffice it to say this is a romantic film with some mild Christian messaging and strong advocacy for organ donation.
The big question for romance fans is “Is this any good?” Well, it’s watchable, it’s emotionally affecting, and it comes with a public service message. On the flip side, it has some clunky dialogue and lines that feel like they’ve been pulled from Pinterest collections of inspiring quotes. In addition, the plot twist feels emotionally manipulative and I found it extremely annoying.
The next question genre fans usually have is “How much sex is in the movie?” The answer is more than I expected but less than usual. Given the Christian tilt to the film, I was surprised to see a scene of heavily implied premarital sex (it was not graphic). There’s relatively little other negative content aside from a half dozen profanities (including a single sexual expletive) and frequent mentions of alcohol along with a scene showing minor characters who are drunk and stoned. This is not glamorized, and they are shown as needing help. There are also as many scenes as possible where Jacob Elordi removes his shirt, revealing his chiseled torso. I suspect that many viewers are not going to see this as a feature; not a bug.
2 Hearts didn’t make my heart beat faster with delight, but I’m certain it will be a hit with other fans of the romantic drama genre. It’s mostly clean, the story is genuinely touching, and the actors are charming. Its advocacy for organ donation boosts a good cause and it demonstrates that it’s possible to make good out of tragedy. That’s a message even I can love.
Directed by Lance Hool. Starring Jacob Elordi, Radha Mitchell, and Adan Canto. Running time: 101 minutes. Theatrical release June 2, 2021. Updated June 2, 2021Watch the trailer for 2 Hearts
2 Hearts
Rating & Content Info
Why is 2 Hearts rated PG-13? 2 Hearts is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for brief strong language.
Violence: There’s mention of a serious car accident that almost kills someone. A main characters die. An emotionally distraught secondary character punches a hole in a wall.
Sexual Content: There are several scenes of men and women in swimwear. There are scenes of men and women kissing. There are several shots of shirtless men. An unmarried couple are shown together in bed clearly topless (although breasts are not visible): sex is implied. A man talks about making dozens of babies as he tosses his wife on to the bed.
Profanity: There are a half dozen profanities in the film including a sexual expletive, a minor curse word, and four terms of deity.
Alcohol / Drug Use: There’s mention of a family’s alcohol business. A character mentions learning to manage her alcohol consumption. A drunk woman vomits. A minor character is depicted as stoned. A couple have a wine bottle at a picnic but aren’t seen drinking from it. Adults are occasionally shown holding glasses of alcohol.
Page last updated June 2, 2021
2 Hearts Parents' Guide
Organ donation is the major theme of this film. What are your beliefs concerning organ donation? If you wish to be an organ donor, have you indicated that on your driver’s license (or however that is done in your jurisdiction)? Have you discussed your feelings about organ donation with your family members?
The Gabriel House of Care mentioned in the film is a real place and you can learn more about it here. For the real story behind the film, you can read the story at this link.
Home Video
The most recent home video release of 2 Hearts movie is November 16, 2020. Here are some details…
Related home video titles:
A young woman whose life has been limited by her heart disease receives a heart transplant. Her new life becomes even happier when she falls in love with a widower in Return to Me.
In Five Feet Apart, two teenagers with cystic fibrosis are hospitalized while Stella waits for a lung transplant and Will deals with a serious infection. Because they can’t risk sharing respiratory bacteria with each other, they can’t get closer to each other than five feet apart.
Other films in the weepy romance genre include All My Life, I Still Believe, Life in a Year, and Shadowlands.