A hairdresser and salon owner in New York City gets the task of doing bridal makeup at the wedding of a prince from the kingdom of Lavania. Often they meet and begin to understand each other’s heart makes the seeds of love begin to spread in the heart.
The Royal Treatment is a romantic film by Rick Jacobson and is a Netflix original film released on January 20, 2022.
Carrying the premise of a cliché story that has been repeatedly made and featuring a new star couple who dropped out of Disney, this film will feel stale. But, is that really the quality? Take a look at the following review to find out.
Synopsis
Isabelle, commonly known as Izzy, is a hairdresser who runs a salon with her mother and grandmother. One day, due to an electrical short in the salon, a small fire broke out which Izzy easily extinguished in time.
Then came the assistant building owner who asked for compensation. The money Izzy had saved to travel the world was gone. Then Izzy gets a phone call from Walter, assistant to Prince Thomas of Lavania, who wants to call her to do the prince’s hair.
Izzy went to visit the prince at his hotel. But seeing the injustice of a royal staff to his servant, Izzy left the hotel without finishing his work.
When Izzy arrived at the salon feeling sad, Thomas came to apologize and at the same time wanted to finish the delayed hair cutting process. When finished, Izzy escorted Thomas to the train station and chatted with each other.
While preparing for the prince’s wedding with his fiancé, Lauren, the mother of the bride-to-be is upset when her hair and make-up stylist resigns.
Walter provides information about Izzy and his salon. Izzy and his two colleagues officially accepted the job and immediately left for Lavania. After arriving at the palace, their abilities were tested by Madame Fabre.
Izzy passed the test, while Lola and Destiny had to re-train from Madame Fabre. Enjoying the day, Izzy walks around the city and finds an area inhabited by a gloomy middle class population. That night, Izzy intends to tour the city again but this time is accompanied by Thomas disguised as a commoner.
Realizing that the city area was deserted, Izzy took Thomas to an area he had found this afternoon and it turned out that the area was being bustled with residents singing and dancing.
Izzy and Thomas were engulfed in excitement. Izzy was invited by Esme, a young local resident, to see her school which was in poor condition.
Intrigued by Thomas’s words, Izzy begins a plan to give useful but unused items from wealthy citizens to Esme’s school and the surrounding community.
With the help of Thomas, it was unexpected that the enthusiasm of the rich to take part in this program brought a lot of happiness to the middle class and surrounding communities.
The next day Izzy was shocked by the news in the paper about her relationship with Thomas. It turns out that Lauren’s mother secretly took pictures of Izzy and Thomas together and then spread false news to the media. Thomas’ father immediately fired Izzy who immediately returned to New York immediately.
What will Thomas do? Will he continue the marriage after learning the real reason for the marriage from his father, or cancel it and follow Izzy?
For fans of romantic films, I think you already know the answer. But, it’s good to watch until the end because maybe there are different things that are served.
Cliche Romantic Comedy Repetition
Do you like watching reruns of some old FTV on a private television? The Royal Treatment can be one of the episodes of the FTV because all the elements in this film meet the criteria, from the storyline, script and dialogue, the acting of the actors, to the sense of humor. Everything feels cliche and typical.
The absence of new things presented in this 1 hour 36 minute film makes it easy for us to guess where the story line is going. In fact, every step, every scene to the dialogue that is about to be spoken is already in our minds. All are shown according to the standard guidelines for romantic comedies in general.
The acting of the actors also appeared normal, nothing special. Laura Marano’s acting is too light, even when facing problems she looks normal and problems are solved easily.
Likewise with Mena Massoud, who is his partner, as if he only has one expression in this film, does it seem that he is lacking in soul or can’t act? You can judge for yourself.
Carrying a romantic story without chemistry between the main characters, of course making a romantic film feel useless, and that happens in this film. Laura Marano and Mena Massoud fail to convince us of the love for their characters.
If usually in a film like this there is one actor who becomes a scene stealer , but in contrast to a film whose cinematography does not have anything special, none of the actors can steal the attention, everything feels flat.
New York settings that are not in New York
With a story that begins in New York City, in fact the film, which started shooting in February 2021, has not even set its foot in one of the largest cities in the United States.
All of the scenes in this film were shot in New Zealand, to be exact in two cities in the Otago region, namely Dunedin for the city setting and Oamaru for the palace setting and its surroundings.
This inauthentic impression is quite influential in the film’s atmosphere, which doesn’t feel the vibe of New York which is super busy every day. In addition, this film tells about the existence of a fictional kingdom, namely Lavania, which is not located on what continent.