One True Loves parents guide

One True Loves Parent Guide

This movie is filled with emotions. Name the emotion and a character is feeling it.

Overall B-

Theaters (USA only): Emma's just become engaged when she learns that the husband who died four years ago is actually alive. (This movie will be available online in the USA and Canada on April 14th.)

Release date April 7, 2023

Violence B
Sexual Content C+
Profanity C+
Substance Use C

Why is One True Loves rated PG-13? The MPAA rated One True Loves PG-13 for some suggestive material and language

Run Time: 100 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Emma and Sam (Phillipa Soo and Simu Liu) are celebrating their engagement when she receives a shocking phone call – from her husband.

Four years ago, Jesse (Luke Bracey) was lost in a helicopter crash over the Pacific Ocean. He was declared dead and Emma’s life shattered into pieces. Leaving their California home, she moved back to New England, took over her parents’ bookstore, rebuilt her life, and put her broken heart back together. She reconnected with Sam – who had loved her since middle school – and found hope and joy again.

Now Emma must do the impossible and choose between the two men she loves. Will she return to her deeply mourned husband and their globe-trotting, adventurous lifestyle or will she stay with Sam, her sensitive, music-loving fiancé and the family-centered life they have created in their hometown?

If you love deeply emotional romantic dramas, One True Loves is the show for you. There’s a swirling mass of emotion here: love, grief, guilt, jealousy, confusion, hope. You name it; one of these characters is feeling it. They are also honest about their feelings and the challenges of their bizarre situation. Aside from some stunned silence and brief frustrated yelling, the rest of the communication is clear and respectful as the parties involved do their best to find a responsible way to navigate the unexpected romantic triangle in which they are trapped.

To be honest, the acting could be better – the film has a strong Hallmark movie vibe – but it’s fine and the movie is certainly good enough to please genre fans. It definitely clears the watchability threshold and although this is far from Oscar bait, it’s a perfectly decent chick flick for a girls’ movie night.

That’s not to say that the production comes without problematic content. The storyline kicks off with teen drinking and progresses to passionate kissing, removal of some clothing (without explicit nudity) and implied sex. On the other hand, the film also has strong messages about personal growth, clear-eyed self-assessment, gratitude, healing from grief, the power of family ties, and seeking mature solutions to complex problems. I might not be passionately in love with the movie, but I understand that genre fans could find plenty here to tempt them to fall for One True Loves. I guess it’s just a matter of knowing what (or who) you really want.

Directed by Andy Fickman. Starring Phillipa Soo, Simu Liu, Luke Bracey. Running time: 100 minutes. Theatrical release April 7, 2023. Updated

Watch the trailer for One True Loves

One True Loves
Rating & Content Info

Why is One True Loves rated PG-13? One True Loves is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for some suggestive material and language

Violence: A woman causes a car accident while using her phone and driving: a person is injured as a result but the injuries aren’t visible. An angry man shouts at a woman. A helicopter crash is shown in flashback. Scars are seen on a man’s back.
Sexual Content: A teen boy and girl kiss. There are multiple scenes where adult men and women kiss passionately. On a couple of occasions, kissing is followed by the removal of the man’s shirt and subsequent sex is implied but not shown on screen. A threesome comes up in non-explicit conversation. A woman is seen in a bikini and men are topless in swim trunks.
Profanity: The script contains approximately ten terms of deity, four scatological curses, three minor profanities, and two crude anatomical terms.
Alcohol / Drug Use:   Adults drink alcohol in social situations. Teenagers are seen drinking alcohol at a party: a girl bemoans failing her breathalyzer test (she hasn’t been driving).

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One True Loves Parents' Guide

Why did Emma choose the man she chose? What were the factors behind her choice? What decision would you have made?

Loved this movie? Try these books…

This movie is based on the novel One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Home Video

Related home video titles:

In Look Both Ways, the movie follows the same woman on two different life paths: in one, she becomes pregnant and moves back home to raise her child. In another, the pregnancy test is negative and she pursues a career. Both paths provide struggle and happiness.

In Needle in a Timestack, a man travels back in time to save his marriage after a previous boyfriend has also gone back in time to prevent it.

Having recently immigrated to Brooklyn, a young married woman returns to Ireland for a funeral and must choose between her husband in America and a suitor on the Emerald Isle.