As we get closer to the holiday season, you might be looking for the perfect holiday RomCom to enjoy as the weather gets colder every day.
Well, look no further. Gulfstream Pictures recently released their newest movie The Other Zoe, a romantic comedy starring multiple well-known actresses and actors including Josephine Langford, Archie Renaux, and Drew Starkey. You might know Drew Starkey as Rafe Cameron from hit TV show “Outer Banks.” You can find now The Other Zoe on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and VUDU since it was officially released on November 10th, 2023.
“The Other Zoe” follows cynical college student Zoe Miller, played by Josephine Langford, and her somewhat ordinary life at her college campus. One of the biggest things you should know about Zoe is that she does not believe in the idea of love, instead believing that love is only a marketing campaign designed to help major companies earn more revenue.
The movie takes place on Valentine’s Day—the perfect setting for the classic romantic comedy. The first time we meet to Zoe she introduces a dating app to her classmates based on compatibility to prove that love isn’t a real thing. Surprisingly, no one was interested.
We later find Zoe at her job in a bookstore where she runs into Zach MacLaren, played by Drew Starkey, Zoe Miller’s complete opposite in every way: popular, cheerful, and sporty. The two don’t hit it off; Zoe Miller’s pessimistic perspective instantly clashing with Zach’s carefree attitude. However, they quickly get to know each other when she accidentally causes Zach to get hit by a car, and he ends up with a concussion and an odd case of amnesia that makes him confuse Zoe Miller with his girlfriend, whose name is coincidentally Zoe Wallace.
Zoe Miller ends up going to the hospital with Zach where his family mistakenly thinks this Zoe Miller is Zach’s girlfriend and invite her to go on their family’s skiing trip—the classic amnesiac relationship trope. As you can probably guess, Zach and Zoe Miller end up falling for each other while on the trip, but Zach’s memory eventually comes back after the trip and realizes that Zoe Miller isn’t his actual girlfriend.
Meantime, Zoe Wallace, Zach’s real girlfriend, shows up to meet them, and everything comes crashing down on the other Zoe. She becomes the laughingstock of her school and alienates her best friend, leaving herself all alone. In the end, Zoe Miller and Zach meet again, Zach confessing that he had just broken up with Zoe Wallace because he was in love with Zoe Miller. The movie ends with Zach and Zoe Miller starting their relationship.
Overall the movie was pretty enjoyable, a great romcom for the winter with an interesting love triangle. The overall plot of the movie was done well, and most of the acting was done well. Drew Starkey was probably the best actor in this film, and his lines coming off as natural and real.
Some aspects took away from the quality of the movie such as the cringey-ness of some scenes and lines, Zoe Miller’s exaggerated cynicism, and the constant references to the concept of love in the beginning of the movie. The worst actor was probably Zach’s little sister, but that’s likely because the actress that played her was only a kid.
I also have some problems with the reality of the plot; let’s be honest, this would probably never happen, but I guess that’s what makes it enjoyable to watch. The start of the movie felt very forced and less relatable, but it slowly became more natural as the movie progressed. I also really loved Zoe Miller’s character development, the way she went from negative to being more in touch with her inner child, and the way that Zach helped develop her character.
I’ll admit that I also fell in love with Zach MacLaren, more specifically Drew Starkey. Ultimately, The Other Zoe was a great movie that played an interesting twist on the classic romcom plot.
