Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Squared Love Everlasting’ on Netflix, The Third Film In A Sweet But Average Rom-Com Series

When the first movie in the Squared Love movie premiered on Netflix in 2021, the premise of the Polish rom-com was that the main character Monika, a school teacher, secretly worked as a model named Klaudia, and unknowingly, a fellow model named Enzo falls for both Monika and her model alter ego, thinking they’re two different women. In the third film of the series, Squared Love Everlasting, the mistaken identities are gone, but the romantic conflict is still there: newly engaged, the couple discover that Enzo has fathered a child with another woman who threatens to come between their perfect romance.

SQUARED LOVE EVERLASTING: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “Love often takes us by surprise. It comes out of the blue and turns your life into a movie filled with romantic scenes,” a man’s voiceover says as we watch a happy young couple kiss. Thus begins our movie filled with romantic scenes…

The Gist: Stefan (Mateusz Banasiuk), who also goes by Enzo professionally as a model and online personality, and school teacher Monika (Adrianna Chlebicka) are the couple at the center of the Squared Love movie trilogy, and after several “will they or won’t they” storylines in the first two films, they’re now happily living together in this third film. Stefan plans to propose to Monika, but every grand attempt he makes is thwarted somehow, so he hasn’t yet.

When Monika finds out she’s pregnant, so he fast-tracks his proposal and starts wedding planning (but it turns out, she’s not actually pregnant, she just had a hormone imbalance). Stefan goes to the local church he was raised in to ask the priest, Father Wiktor, to marry him, and that’s when the real hiccup hits: Father Wiktor tells Stefan that there’s a young woman named Ewa from Stefan’s past who he hurt. In order to perform the wedding, Father Wiktor tells Stefan he needs to make things right with Ewa first. So Stefan sets off on a road trip with his niece Ania (Helena Mazur) to find Ewa, and when he does, he learns he has a son with her, a boy named Antek.

Stefan brings Ewa and Antek back home to Monika who is understanding when she learns Antek is Stefan’s son, but less understanding when Ewa takes an offer to crash for a couple weeks and turns it into an extended stay. Eventually Monika learns that Ewa is kind of a deadbeat, she has no money and no home and has been mooching off them with the hopes that she would win Stefan back and basically push Monika out of the picture.

With this new woman in the picture, Stefan and Monika’s ideal relationship that was finally starting to seem perfect unravels once more, and they plan to call their wedding off. Will these two ever find their happy ever after?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Squared Love Everlasting is a classic rom-com mixed with elements of a farce, not unlike (the underrated, IMO) Definitely Maybe and the classic My Best Friend’s Wedding. It’s not quite on the same level as those films, but it has the same predictably charming elements that make them work.

Our Take: Squared Love Everlasting is predictable in every way, but that’s not to say it’s a bad thing. The formula for most great rom-coms involves some kind of obstacle that prevents our couple from being together (our obstacle in this case is Ewa), a well-rounded, usually funny cast of supporting characters (this film has them lurking everywhere), and a B-story of some kind that acts as a buffer to flesh out the universe of our characters (in this case, it’s an equally complicated romance between Monika’s widower father and his wealthy new girlfriend). And of course you can’t overlook the fact that even though the couple seems broken up until the last five minutes of the film, they end up walking down the aisle after all, once they realized they’re destined to be together.

The memorable performance from Ina Sobala as the ethereal, unfiltered, unpredictable Ewa, (30 Rock would refer to her as “crazy putty“) is exaggerated but necessary to create friction in the relationship, but the ultimately what ties the story together is the way Father Wiktor orchestrates the biggest challenge for the couple – the introduction of Ewa – but also refuses to let the couple use her as an excuse to break up. Because you can’t force a good rom-com couple into love each other, they have to find out their feelings for themselves, and they certainly do here (and in the previous two films as well).

Sex and Skin: Some kissing but nothing hot and heavy.

Parting Shot: “We really did do a good job,” Father Wiktor’s assistant tells the priest as they look at the newly-married couple. “I mean, you did a good job, Father. But I did help out, you have to give me that.”

Most Pilot-y Line: “Let your uncle ruin his life in peace,” Stefan’s brother Andrzej tells his daughter Ania as she tries to offer her uncle life advice.

Our Call: Is it hokey and predictable? Yes. Is it still charming and filled with good-looking people and gorgeously scenic backdrops for a wedding? Also yes. There’s nothing ground-breaking about Squared Love Everlasting, but it’s a satisfying rom-com all the same. STREAM IT!