We love an adaptation, and when this one was announced we knew that we’d be talking about it sooner rather than later. This week, we’re having an in-depth discussion about the new movie adaptation of the popular 2019 romance novel Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. The movie was just released on Amazon Prime on August 11, 2023. Meaghan read and loved the book, while Shirin did not, allowing them to compare the adaptation to the source material.
The current reception is lukewarm, with a 7.5 rating on IMDB and 79% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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The story follows Alex Claremont-Diaz, son of the U.S. President, as he navigates a scandalous romance with Prince Henry of England. After an embarrassing encounter between them goes viral, they are forced to pretend to be friends for PR reasons, eventually falling in love for real.
A major critique from Meaghan is how the movie strips away the lively, quirky supporting characters who added so much dimension to the book. Alex’s sister June is entirely absent, and his best friend Nora has only a minor presence, with much of her role and backstory cut out. Other side characters like Henry’s sister Princess Beatrice, his best friend Percy, and Alex’s Secret Service agent Amy were flattened as well. The complex relationships between these friends and family members really rounded out the world of the novel.
Beyond characters, many engaging subplots around political intrigue were also simplified or excised. The conflict revolving around leaked emails and photos exposing Alex and Henry’s relationship is changed to place blame on a jaded reporter, Miguel. But in the book, the leak tied intricately into a whole storyline with Rafael Luna, a Democratic Congressman whom Alex admires but who betrays his mother’s re-election campaign. This created fascinating political tensions which are absent from the movie.
We’re also taking issue with the pacing and runtime. The movie breezes through major plot points in just 2 hours, whereas she feels the story would have benefited tremendously from a multi-episode miniseries format. This would have allowed room to develop the nuanced characters and relationships better. As is, the movie focuses almost exclusively on hitting the major romance beats between Alex and Henry.
While the leads have decent chemistry, the singular focus on their dynamic comes at the cost of the lively cast of friends, complex family dynamics, and political tensions that brought the book to life. We feel the female characters especially offered something meaningful now lacking, as the men take center stage.
Specific scenes are analyzed, like Henry and Alex’s first sexual encounter, which adds a touching note about sexual self-discovery absent from the novel. But many other fun scenes like Alex’s confrontation with Rafael Luna are missing entirely.
In the end, while the movie retains the general romance plot, we found the experience overall to be disappointing, feeling the adaptation flattens the uniquely colorful charisma of Casey McQuiston’s characters and politically savvy storytelling. It streamlines the queer romance into a predictable, cookie-cutter narrative missing the nuance and verve that made Red, White & Royal Blue such a hit. We believe the changes sound detrimental, making us less inclined to watch the new movie herself.
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