'The Half Of It' Trailer: Netflix's New YA Romance Has A New Take On A Classic Story

Netflix has been making a name for itself the last couple of years with its mixture of true-crime tales and YA romance films. While “Tiger King” seems to have people on the true-crime side happy for the time being, “The Half of It” hopes to appease those seeking a bit of romance during this global pandemic.

“The Half of It” follows the story of a lonely girl in a small town that is paid to write a series of love letters on behalf of a hapless jock hoping to impress the prettiest girl in school. And though that might sound like a story that’s been told a million times (and it has), the new Netflix film puts a bit of a modern twist on the tried-and-true plot.

READ MORE: Alan Yang’s Poignant & Personal ‘Tigertail’ Is A Thoughtful Immigration Story [Review]

The film stars Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Alexxis Lemire, Enrique Murciano, Wolfgang Novogratz, Catherine Curtin, Becky Ann Baker, and Collin Chou. “The Half of It” is written and directed by Alice Wu. The film marks Wu’s return to writing and directing after her 2004 feature, “Saving Face.”

About the film, Wu said, “So here I am, staring down the barrel of mid-life, having just made a movie about teenagers. Now that it’s done, I can see a few things more clearly. For one: I used to think there was only one way to love. That A plus B minus C equals Love. Now that I’m older, I see there are more. So many more ways to love than I had ever imagined.”

“The Half of It” premieres on Netflix on May 1.

Here’s the synopsis:

Bookish introvert Ellie Chu is perfectly content with her life: watching old movies with her widowed father and ghostwriting papers for her high school classmates to help pay the bills. But her side gig turns personal when lovelorn jock Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer) hires her to craft love notes to Aster Flores (Alexxis Lemire) — a smart, popular girl out of both their leagues… and Ellie’s own secret crush. Just as the duo’s plan begins to work, a new wrinkle emerges: Ellie and Paul have fallen into a deep friendship neither could have anticipated, giving rise to a surprising love triangle. Written and directed by Alice Wu, THE HALF OF IT is a heartfelt comedy-of-errors about searching for perfect love—and finding yourself in the process.